SHOCK THERAPY


Meaning of SHOCK THERAPY in English

Method of treating psychiatric disorders by inducing shock through drugs or electric current.

Shock was formerly induced by administering increasingly large doses of insulin until the patient was thrown into a brief coma; insulin-shock therapy was used for the treatment of schizophrenia . Electroconvulsive, or electroshock, therapy involves passing an electric current through the patient's head between two electrodes placed over the temples and thus causing a convulsive seizure; it was used for bipolar disorder and other types of depression . Both forms of shock therapy were developed in the 1930s; their use has declined since the introduction of tranquilizing drugs and antidepressants.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.