Shock therapy (psychiatry)

Shock therapy describes a set of techniques used in psychiatry to treat depressive disorder or other mental illnesses. It covers multiple forms, such as inducing seizures or other extreme brain states, or acting as a painful method of aversive conditioning.

Two types of shock therapy are currently practiced:

• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), in which a seizure is induced in the brain, often as an intervention for major depressive disorder, mania, and catatonia. ECT remains a safe and effective treatment in some circumstances in modern psychiatry.
• The graduated electronic decelerator (GED), an aversive device that applies a powerful electric shock as a punishment for undesirable behavior. The device is manufactured by and used exclusively by the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, a special education institution in Canton, Massachusetts. The GED has been condemned as a torture device by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Other forms, no longer in use, include:

• Insulin shock therapy, introduced by Manfred Sakel in 1933 for the treatment of schizophrenia. This resulted in a coma state for a short amount of time.
• Convulsive therapy, using pentylenetetrazol or other agents to induce seizures. The first use was with cardiazol by von Meduna of Budapest; the belief at the time was there was "some kind of biological antagonism between schizophrenia and epilepsy".
• Deep sleep therapy.

Shock therapy (other than ECT), however, has fallen away in use in lieu of other forms of treatment.