The History of Shock Treatment

by Franz G. Alexander, E. Fuller Torrey, David Bayne Kinneir

The History of Shock Treatment is an anthology of more than 250 chronologically arranged excerpts and articles by proponents and opponents of psychiatry's most controversial procedure, which every year is administered to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world.

Many of these writings appear in professional journals and reflect a positive attitude towards the procedure. With these alone, it would not be apparent that a small but growing number of professional and lay people have emerged who are highly critical of the procedure on moral, legal, and medical grounds. In addition to the chronologically arranged articles for and against, the remainder of the book consists of four original articles, a survey of ECT-related deaths as reported in the literature, a roster of psychiatrists who presently employ shock treatment, a glossary of psychiatric terms, and an extensive bibliography.

Paperback

First published December 1, 1978

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of meticulously and exhaustively sourced endorsements and critiques of shock treatment from its pre-history and inception to the late 70s. Yes, the book is dated by now, but it was up-to-date when it was first published. It would be nice if there were more recent editions available but that's no strike against the present one. Some of the illustrations introduce bias but they're neither subtle nor intrusive enough for that to factor into my rating. Naturally, Peter Breggin, David Cooper, R. D. Laing, and Thomas Szasz number among the contributors, but so do more neglected members of the so-called "anti-psychiatry" movement, not least feminist critics. "Anti-psychiatry" is a misnomer as, exceptions aside, critics of psychiatry were not generally calling for its abolition so much as its reform. Nowhere is that clearer than in this anthology where even mainstream clinicians voice serious reservations about the procedure under consideration. Only in a profoundly scientistic society could strident and humane calls for the reform of psychiatry be misconstrued as unconditional demands for its abolition. Accordingly, the allusion to Feyerabend in the dedication is particularly apt.