NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, SECTION OF NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY, AND NEW YORK NEUROLOGICAL SOCIETY

Abstract

Selective Use of Electric Shock Therapy as an Adjuvant to Psychotherapy. Dr. Herman Selinsky (read by Dr. William A. Horwitz). The indiscriminate use of electric shock therapy is deplored, and it is urged that this therapeutic measure always be supplemented with adequate psychotherapy. Certain psychiatrists have raised objections to this form of therapy for mental disorders, principally to the effect that it is cruel and crude. In answer, it may be pointed out that the benefit obtained from such treatment is now a matter of undisputed clinical record. Electric shock therapy has been particularly valuable in the psychiatric treatment of ambulatory patients who are still able to earn a livelihood, patients who might hitherto have been confined to a mental disease hospital. Several case histories are given to illustrate a psychiatric problem which is disconcerting to manage : that of the patient who does not respond to competent psychotherapy or one who is close to being psychotic. It is recommended that electric shock therapy be considered for such selected patients; response to further psychotherapy may be gratifying. The theoretic considerations for evaluation of psychophysiologic processes involved in the production of improvement are briefly discussed. So, also, are the impairment of memory and the psychomotor manifestations in the seizure pattern.