Shock therapy

:This article is about the medical term. For use of the term in economics see Shock therapy (economics). For the 1981 sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, see Shock Treatment.

Related Topics:
Economics - Shock therapy (economics) - The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Shock Treatment

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Shock therapy is the deliberate and controlled induction of some form of physiological shock in an individual for the purpose of psychiatric treatment. Although once common, with advances in psychiatric drugs shock therapy is now reserved for only severe cases of depression and bipolar disorder that do not respond to talk therapy or drug-based treatment. Although once used for the treatment of schizophrenia, it is now generally regarded as being ineffective for that purpose.

Related Topics:
Shock - Psychiatric - Depression - Bipolar disorder - Schizophrenia

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Doctors have noticed for thousands of years that a person's mental state sometimes changes dramatically following recovery from shock or seizures, whether induced by a head injury, an illness such as malaria, or chemically. Shock therapy is an attempt to produce these same changes artificially and under controlled conditions.

Related Topics:
Mental state - Malaria

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