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Teachers  Techniques & Technologies   Electroconvulsive therapy
(ECT)  Xsl file could not be processed  Electroconvulsive
therapy (ECT), sometimes called ‘electroshock’, was one of the
most controversial psychiatric treatments of the 20th century.
It began in the 1930s, at a time when some psychiatrists in
Europe and the US experimented with the drug metrazol to induce
epileptic-like convulsions in schizophrenic patients. The theory
was that epilepsy and schizophrenia were opposed. However, the
convulsions were so violent that many patients broke bones or
fractured their spines. Italian neurologist and epilepsy
specialist Ugo Cerletti wanted to produce similar effects in a
more controlled way. He adapted electric shock techniques used
to stun animals, and created ECT.  ECT applied brief but
powerful shocks via two electrodes, called ‘paddles’, placed on
the patient’s forehead. The technique became widespread in
mental hospitals across Europe and Nor