The Benefits And Risks Of Shock Therapy
The label “shock therapy” includes therapies that are actually quite different from each other. What they have in common, as the name implies, is that they have a significant impact. We are talking about a stimulus that is able to produce changes in a person’s brain. Let’s talk about the benefits and risks of shock therapy.
As far as we know, the ancient Greeks were the first to experiment with shock therapy. We know that they used something similar to this on people who were in a very agitated state. There are references to this type of anxiety that were treated with suffocation. This is the first thing we see in this dubious idea that a strong emotional experience is capable of erasing a previous, problematic experience.
Shock therapy itself originates from psychiatry. First, psychiatrists started insulin shock therapy and cardiazole shock therapy. Apparently, an overdose of these chemicals improved the symptoms of patients with mental illness. Later, they introduced electric shocks. This type of treatment is very controversial, but psychiatrists still use it even today.
Over time, experts added different techniques to the category of shock therapy. They range from going on hot coal to publishing individual mistakes. In all cases, the principle is the same. That is, exposing the patient to an intense emotional experience with the goal of provoking behavioral changes.
A short history of shock therapy
It is not easy to evaluate the relevance and effectiveness of shock therapy. It is clear that exposing a person to an almost traumatic event will cause them to change in some way. The question is whether the change actually solves the problem it is trying to correct? If yes, will the change last?
There are many controversial aspects of shock therapy. Therapists began using it to formally treat mental illness in the sixteenth century. However, the data supporting its effectiveness are not reliable. This is because those who practice it did not organize the information or process it in a scientific way.
Later, Ugo Cerletti, an Italian neurologist, made a strange observation. He discovered that if electricity was used on pigs before they went to slaughter, they were calmer. It gave him the idea to try something similar on humans.
The benefits and risks of shock therapy
Classical shock therapy still exists, and it is still debated. In many cases, it causes brain damage. With that damage, some states of psychotic anxiety disappear. Still, in the fixed cases (if not in all of them) the price is simply too high.
We have documented cases of shock therapy that cause permanent injury or cardiac arrest. In other words, it can lead to death. There are also cases of people who ended up in a vegetative state after these procedures.
Psychiatrists continue to use electroshock therapy. They use it primarily in case of major depression. There are a large number of people in the world who claim to have benefited from these procedures. It is possible that they are right. It is also possible that the patient views the treatment as a serious punishment. Thus, they refrain from certain types of behavior that the doctor does not want them to show. In any case, the controversy is still present regarding the benefits and risks of shock therapy.
Shock therapy and psychology
But there are some shock therapies that are more beneficial. Psychologists use them primarily to treat phobias. The method involves exposing patients directly to their fears. Psychologists pressure them to do this, but they also follow them during the experience.
When psychologists use this type of therapy, patients say that they experience real agony. Before their therapist exposes them to their fears, they are terrified. But when they face their fears and do not run away, the opposite happens. They feel confident in themselves, finally confident. With shock therapy, release in general only needs to happen once. This is enough to make the phobia go away. However, psychologists also sometimes use progressive exposure. It all depends on the situation.
As with anything human, there is no last word on the subject. In psychology, we do not see anything as an absolute truth. Each person is unique. What works for one person can be disastrous for another. Therefore, it makes sense to consider the benefits and risks of shock therapy. Mental health professionals must make thorough evaluations of each patient they treat. Only after this should they prescribe shock therapy, or some other kind of treatment.
