electroshock therapy
Meaning of electroshock therapy: The name survives from an era the procedure no longer resembles, since it is now given under anesthesia with no visible convulsion at all.
Definition of electroshock therapy
Electroshock therapy is the informal name for electroconvulsive therapy, a psychiatric treatment in which a brief electrical current passed between electrodes on the scalp produces a short, controlled seizure in the brain. It is given under general anesthesia together with a muscle relaxant, so the seizure is followed on monitoring equipment rather than seen. It is delivered as a course of sessions.
What happens during a session?
The appointment is short, and most of it is preparation and recovery. An anesthetic and a muscle relaxing drug are given through a vein, so the person is asleep and the body stays still. Heart rhythm, oxygen level and brain activity are all monitored. The current itself lasts a few seconds and the seizure that follows lasts well under a minute, registering as a change in brain wave tracing rather than as movement. A cuff is often placed on one limb to keep the relaxant out of it, so that the seizure can be watched in that hand alone. The person wakes within minutes and is observed until fully alert. Sessions are usually given a few times a week over a number of weeks, and some people continue with spaced sessions afterward. The formal name for the same treatment is electroconvulsive therapy.
What is it used for?
| Situation | Why it is considered |
|---|---|
| Severe depression | Other treatments have not worked, or a fast response is needed |
| Catatonia | Response is often rapid and marked |
| Severe mania | Symptoms are extreme or have not settled with medicine |
| Psychotic depression | Depression carrying delusions or hallucinations alongside it |
How it produces its effect is not fully established. Research points to changes in the signaling chemicals of the brain and in the way nerve cells form connections, but no single explanation is settled.
What effects on memory are known?
Memory disturbance is the best documented drawback and the main reason the treatment is weighed carefully. Three patterns are described. Confusion immediately after a session usually clears within minutes to hours. Difficulty holding new information during a course of treatment typically recovers in the weeks that follow. Gaps in memory for events around the treatment period are the most persistent, and some do not fill in. How much occurs depends on where the electrodes sit and on the shape of the electrical pulse, and placement on one side of the head produces less cognitive effect than placement on both. Headache, jaw ache and muscle soreness are common in the hours after a session, and the general anesthesia carries its own separate risks.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The patient's family asked several questions about electroshock therapy before the treatment course began.
Good to know
The informal name electroshock therapy carries stigma attached to older, uncontrolled practices, though the modern procedure given under anesthesia with continuous monitoring produces no visible convulsion and differs substantially from those portrayals.
Word origin
Where “electroshock therapy” comes from
Formed from electro-, from Greek elektron, meaning amber, an early source of observed static electricity, and shock, an ordinary English word for the sudden physical effect of the stimulus.