
Electroshock
Healing Mental Illness
Max Fink(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 19. December 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-0-19-515804-5 (ISBN)
Description
Electroshock therapy (ECT) has long suffered from a controversial and bizarre public image, a reputation that has effectively removed it as a treatment option for many patients. In Electroshock, Max Fink draws on 45 years of clinical and research experience to argue that ECT is now a safe, effective, painless, and sometimes life-saving treatment for emotional and mental disorders. Dr Fink discusses the development of ECT from its discovery in 1934, its acceptance and widespread use for two decades until it was largely replaced by the introduction of psychotropic drugs in the 1950s, and its revival in the past twenty years as a viable treatment now that undesirable side-effects have been largely removed. He provides case studies of actual patients and the testimonies of their family members to illuminate successful responses. Many disorders, such as depression, mania, catatonia, and schizophrenia, respond well to ECT. We learn what the patient experiences, as the author explains the whole procedure from preparation to recovery. He also shows how anaesthesia and muscle relaxation have refined ECT, minimizing discomfort and reducing its risks to a level far lower than many of the psychotropic drugs routinely prescribed for the same problems.
An excellent sourcebook for patients, their families, caretakers, and mental health professionals, Electroshock clarifies misconceptions about ECT. For those who suffer from mental and emotional disorders, it offers a safe and highly effective treatment.
An excellent sourcebook for patients, their families, caretakers, and mental health professionals, Electroshock clarifies misconceptions about ECT. For those who suffer from mental and emotional disorders, it offers a safe and highly effective treatment.
Reviews / Votes
In an America long besotted with psychotherapy, Max Fink carried an often lonely torch for the physical treatment of psychiatric disorders... Electroshock is a slim volume, packing a punch of controversy. * Nature * This book, clearly written, concise, and assertive, should help balance the picture, educating mental health professionals and the general public alike * Forward Magazine *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
196 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-515804-5 (9780195158045)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
02/2010
2nd Edition
Oxford University Press Inc
€40.00
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
12/2008
2nd Edition
OUP USA
€18.49
Available for download

E-Book
12/2002
2nd Edition
OUP USA
€18.49
Available for download

Book
11/1999
Oxford University Press Inc
€65.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Max Fink, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology Emeritus at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Attending Psychiatrist at the Long Island Jewish-Hillside Hospital Medical Center. He is the author of Convulsive Therapy: Theory and Practice, Psychobiology of Convulsive Therapy, and other books. He lives in Nissequogue, New York.
Author
Professor (Emeritus) of Psychiatry and Neurology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, and Attending Psychiatrist, Department of PsychiatryProfessor (Emeritus) of Psychiatry and Neurology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, and Attending Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Long Island Jewish-Hillside Hospital Medical Center
Content
1. What is Electroshock? ; 2. The Patient's Experience ; 3. Risks and Contradictions ; 4. Technical Features of the Treatment ; 5. Depressive Mood Disorders ; 6. Manic Mood Disorders ; 7. Thought Disorders ; 8. Movement Disorders ; 9. How Does it Work? ; 10. The Origins of Electroshock Therapy ; 11. Controversies in Electroshock ; 12. Electroshock in the 1990s ; Appendix 1: Diagnoses in Which ECT is Considered Effective ; Appendix 2: Diagnoses in Which ECT is Considered Ineffective ; Appendix 3: Sample Consent Form for Electrotherapy ; Appendix 4: Medicines