Early Years: 1938-1969
ECT was invented in Italy in 1938. In 1939 it was brought to England and replaced cardiazol (metrazol) as the preferred method of inducing seizures in convulsion therapy in British mental hospitals. Although soon established as especially useful in the treatment of depression, it was also used on people with a wide variety of mental disorders. There was large variation in the amount of ECT used between different hospitals. As well as being used therapeutically, ECT was used to control the behaviour of patients. Originally given in unmodified form (without anaesthetics and muscle relaxants) hospitals gradually switched to using modified ECT, a process that was accelerated by a famous legal case.
Read more about this topic: History Of Electroconvulsive Therapy In The United Kingdom
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