Electroconvulsive treatment

HT, after chronic adininistration of all clinically effective antidepressants and after electroconvulsive treatment. A detailed review of the neuropharmacology of antidepressants is available (30). 

Very high doses of caffeine can induce seizures in those with no preexisting seizure disorder. Caffeine also prolongs seizures induced by electroconvulsive treatment in humans (Shapira et al. 1987). Given the... 

The discovery of psychopharmacological medications was revolutionary because they provided a means of treating illnesses that were otherwise intractable. With the exception of electroconvulsive treatments for severe depression, there were no medical treatments for disorders that did not respond to psychotherapy. Once established, the drugs led to an ongoing search for more effective and safer medications. A second reason for their revolutionary status is that they furthered understanding of mental illnesses and normal brain function. Investigations of their therapeutic mechanisms led to theories of the neurochemical bases of mental illnesses. 

Ghaziuddin, N., King, C.A., Naylor, M.W., Ghaziuddin, M., Chaud-hary, N., Giordani, B., Dequardo, J.R., Tandon, R., and Greden, J. (1996) Electroconvulsive treatment in adolescents with pharmacotherapy-refractory depression. / Child Adolesc Psycho-pharmacol 6 259—271. 

Meltzer HY, Simonovic M, Sturgeon RD, et al Effect of antidepressants, lithium and electroconvulsive treatment on rat serum prolactin levels. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl 290 100-121, 1981... 

Small IF, Milstein V, Miller MJ, et al Electroconvulsive treatment—indications, benefits, and limitations. Am J Psychother 40 343-356, 1986 Small JG, Klapper MH, Kellams JJ, et al Electroconvulsive therapy compared with lithium in the management of manic states. Arch Gen Psychiatry 45 727-732, 1988... 

Pippard J. Audit of electroconvulsive treatment in two National Health Service regions. Br J Psychiatry 1992 160 621-637. 

Vetulani J, Lebrecht V, Pile A. Enhancement of responsiveness of the central serotonergic system and serotonin-2 receptor density in rat frontal cortex by electroconvulsive treatment. EurJ Pharmacol 1981 76 81. 

Treatment of depression is essential in minimizing the disruptive influence that this disease has on the patient s quality of life, and on his or her relationship with their family and job. Procedures ranging from psychotherapy to electroconvulsive treatment can be prescribed, depending on the severity and type. Drug treatment plays a major role in alleviating and preventing the occurrence of major depression, and this form of therapy is presented here. 

There have been some patients who did not respond to treatment and had to be sent to state hospitals for longterm care. One young girl who took LSD was on a bad trip for four months. We were finally able to stop her unpleasant experiences by giving her fifteen electroconvulsive treatments, in which electrodes are attached to the scalp, and the patient is given electrically induced seizures. 

Janis, I. L. (1948). Memory loss following electroconvulsive treatments. Journal of Personality, 17, 29-32. 

Janis, I. L., 6c Astrachan, M. (1951). The effect of electroconvulsive treatments on memory efficiency. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 46, 501—511. 

Small, J., Kellams, J., Milstein, V., Small, I. (1980). Complications with electroconvulsive treatment combined with lithium. Biological Psychiatry, 15, 103-112. 

Other somatic therapies were developed in the first half of the twentieth century, with variable results. Malaria therapy was conceived in 1917, insulin shock in 1927, psychosutgery in 1936, and electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) in 1938. All of these methods, as originally conceived, carried serious risks, and most demonstrated marginal effectiveness. Psychosurgeries were carried out by the thousands in the 1940s, resulting in rather effective behavioral control over agitated psychotic patients... 

Electroconvulsive treatment conversely, was quite effective in certain groups of patients, such as those with psychotic depressive disorders. However, early methods of administration were fraught with dangerous complications and side effects, and ECT was used on a widespread basis, indiscriminately. Many patients were treated with it inappropriately and did not respond. (As shall be discussed later, in recent years significant advances have been made in ECT, and it now affords a highly effective, safe treatment for selected types of patients.)... 

When symptoms of major depression and psychosis coexist, medication treatment is always warranted. (Often hospitalization, ECT, or both may also be necessary.) Psychotically depressed patients do not respond to psychotherapy alone, and they represent a very high suicide risk when actively psychotic. It has been firmly documented that treatment with antidepressants alone is not very effective (only 25 percent). Likewise, treatment with antipsychotics alone produce disappointing results (35 percent effective). However, combined antidepressant-antipsychotic treatment is significantly more effective (60 to 70 percent). Electroconvulsive treatment is really the gold standard in the treatment of psychotic mood disorders (90 percent effective). (See chapters 14 and 17, on treatment with antidepressants and antipsychotics, respectively.)... 

The realization of the peculiar effect of (-)-deprenyl, first in Parkinson s disease and later in Alzheimer s disease, distracted attention from its antidepressant property, which remained unutilized. Even an especially interesting aspect of this problem fell into oblivion. In a study performed by Birkmayer et al. (1984) on 102 outpatients and 53 inpatients, (-)-deprenyl was given together with (-)-phenylalanine. The latter is a precursor of PEA that, in contrast to PEA, crosses the blood-brain barrier and, as it is metabolized in the brain, increases the concentration of this natural enhancer substance. Nearly 70% of the patients achieved full remission. This outstanding clinical efficiency was equaled only by that of electroconvulsive treatment, but without the latter s side effect of memory loss. 

Prudic J, Sackeim HA, Spricknall K Potential pharmacologic agents for the cognitive effects of electroconvulsive treatment. Psychiatric Annals 28 40 6, 1998 Quinby G, Walker KC, Durham WF Public health hazards involved in the use of organic phosphorus insecticides in cotton culture in the delta area of Mississippi. J Econ Entomol 51 831-838,1958... 

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