title: Shock Therapy: A History of Electroconvulsive Treatment in Mental Illness
author:  Edward Shorter 
description: "A compelling enjoyable read that gives us a rich understanding of the history of psychiatry's most effective treatment, and of the many factors that have stigmatized it and limited its use." -- <i>Samuel H. Bailine, M.D., Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY</i><br /><br />"A fascinating narrative of the history of ECT from its inception to the present, interweaving the personalities, social contexts, and psychiatric developments along the way." -- <i>W. Vaughn McCall, M.D., M.S., Wake Forest University Health Sciences</i><br /><br />"An important and compelling history of ECT, the life-saving, but much maligned, treatment. Shorter and Healy have given us a work that is at once scholarly and wonderfully readable." -- <i>Charles H. Kellner, M.D., Chair, Department of Psychiatry,UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School</i><br /><br />"Shock Therapy is based on comprehensive research that includes both manuscript and printed sources as well as interviews with individuals who have played key roles in the history of ECT. It is a controversial work, if only because its authors combine both historical analysis and advocacy. Nevertheless, the book--which includes discussions of such contemporary therapeutic innovations as VNS, DBS, and TMS--is a must reading and has relevance for those concerned with the treatment of mental disorders." -- <i>Gerald N. Grob, coauthor of The Dilemma of Federal Mental Health Policy: Radical Reform or Incremental Change?</i><br /><br />"Shorter and Healy take the reader on a marvellous tour de force through the development of electroconvulsive therapy from the 1930s till today. The historical perspective and first-hand accounts by key players convey the essentials for an understanding of the ideas, the practice, and not least the conflicts and battles that for decades have maligned one of the most efficacious and safe treatments in the whole of medicine. This book is highly exciting, elegantly written, and deserves to reach a wide readership." -- <i>Tom G. Bolwig, M.D., University of Copenhagen</i><br /><br />"<i>Shock Therapy</i> is based on comprehensive research that includes both manuscript and printed sources as well as interviews with individuals who have played key roles in the history of ECT. It is a controversial work, if only because its authors combine both historical analysis and advocacy. Nevertheless, the book--which includes discussions of such contemporary therapeutic innovations as VNS, DBS, and TMS--is a must reading and has relevance for those concerned with the treatment of mental disorders." -- <i>Gerald N. Grob, coauthor of <i>The Dilemma of Federal Mental Health Policy: Radical Reform or Incremental Change</i>?</i><br /><br />"For the reader who wishes to learn how ECT developed and went through ups and downs in its acceptance by the public, by Hollywood, and by the mental health profession, the book is superb." -- <i><i>New England Journal of Medicine</i></i><br /><br />"This book has groundbreaking potential, and its readability is strengthened by the use of many primary documents, including detailed journal entries and transcripts of interviews with the original scientists involved." -- <i><i>Library Journal</i></i>
zlib_text: shock therapy
  
  shock therapy
  A History of 
  Electroconvulsive Treatment 
  in Mental Illness
  � � � � � � � � �
  edward shorter
  david healy
  Rutgers University Press
  new brunswick, new jersey, and london
  
  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
  Shorter, Edward.
  Shock therapy : a history of electroconvulsive treatment in mental illness / Edward 
  Shorter, David Healy.
  p. ; cm.
  Includes bibliographical references and index.
  ISBN 978–0-8135–4169–3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
  1. Electroconvulsive therapy—History. I. Healy, David, MRC Psych. II. Title.
  [DNLM: 1. Electroconvulsive Th erapy—history. 2. History, 20th Century. 3. Mental 
  Disorders—therapy. WM 11.1 S559s 2007]
  RC485.S56 2007
  616.89´122—dc22
  2006039516
  A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British 
  Library.
  Copyright © 2007 by Edward Shorter and David Healy
  All rights reserved
  No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, 
  electronic or mechanical, or by 