Evening star., 1944-05-05
Shock Treatment
Continued From First Page.)

strain0 The omcer would have
thrown himself OF the bed but two
sailors held his shoulders down and
two nurses had their full weight on
his knees. The first nurse held his
head. His face turned blue. He
stopped breathing. Then the groans
resumed.
CONFUSION Continues 80 Seconds.
The terrific jerks of the frame
continued. Those who have had the
misfortune to witness violent cpl
leptic convulsion know the effect
the brief impulse of alternating cur
rent had produced. The convulsion
continued about 80 seconds.
The officer lost consciousness the
moment the electric current hit his
brain. Like other patients, he would
remember only getting on the bed
and having the terminals adjusted
to his temples.
The effect on the flrst-time on
locker was one of almost incredulity
He had been timing the phases Of
the convulsion but he forgot what
his watch told him. He weakly fol-
lowed the orderlies wheeling the
officer out into the hall.
That's all right" said the doctor.
This would bother us, If we did not
gee from day to day the improve
i1nent this effects. You're not the
only one to feel as you do. The
other day graduate nurse with
surgical experience went on duty
here for the first time. After being
In on one shock treatment, she
asked to be transferred"
Twelve Given Treatment.
Twelve men were given the treat
ment in less than an hour. I
watched them reviving in the hall
outside. There was some confusion
like that Of alcoholics-as they
regained consciousness. A few said
they had headaches.
The electric method makes a large
number of treatments possible.
When commissions were caused by
drugs, a crew Of doctors and nurses
had to wait by-sometimes for hours
for the convulsions to begin.
This convulsive therapy for mental
cases became known in 1885 when
DR.. Lazlo Medina, a Hungarian in
Budapest, one of those scientists
with a genius for playing a hunch, I"
published his discovery. He had
noted that epileptics, who are
numerous in every mental institu-
ton, rarely are affiicted with those
morbid mental diseases which are
classified as schizophrenia "a term
the doctors now prefer to dementia
praecox. The personality disturb
ances which often make epileptics
incompetent are of another type)
DR.. MEDINA ventured that convul-
sions might be the reason. Know
ing that convulsions can be induced
by drugs, he experimental with
metrazol injections on patients and
noted surprising improvement in de-
pressional cases.
Shock System Spreads.
In 1887 Or. Manfred Sakel of
Vienna came to America with his
insulin method, convulsions caused
by intravenous injections of the bio
logical serum which keeps diabetes
healthy. Institutional psychiatrists
who had almost become reconciled
to their role of custodians, threw
their hats in the air over this op-
portunity to cure their patients
They were disappointed. That is
another reason why they are en-
deavoring to control their elation
over electric shock treatments.
Electric shock convulsions began
when DR.. Ugo Cerletti in Rome, who
had been getting convulsions ex-
perimentally in rats and mice with
electricity, read about Medina and
Sakel. Just six years ago, in April
1888, he first applied the method tc
a man.
Despite the war, adoption of the
electric shock method has spread
much faster than is usual with
medical discoveries. Many of Amer
ica's State hospitals are now using
it. The American Psychiatric Asso.
citation, meeting in Philadelphia this
month will buzz with it.
Patients Get 80 Shocks.
Any drug poisonous enough tc
cause convulsions is likely to have
unfortunate collateral effects. Elec-
tricity is gone the moment it is
snapped off. The tendency now il
to give more treatments. Men are
sometimes given 80 shocks, every
other day over l0-week period.
What happens in the brain? NJ
one knows. I asked DR.. Edgar
Douglas Adrian, the eminent brair
psychologist Of Cambridge Uniyer.
sity, England, who came here tt
address the National Academy O,
Scientists. He said:
Some people compare it to shak
ing UP kaleidoscope. Fortunately
the picture comes out right"
How many are cured2 The Dor