ECT versus chlorpromazine in mania.

The efficacy of ECT in the treatment of depression is well recognized. In mania its efficacy is less well acknowledged. This report compares ECT, chlorpromazine, and no active treatment in mania. Twenty-eight control patients diagnosed as manic were selected from consecutive admissions to the University of Iowa Psychiatric Hospital in the period 1935-1941 when there was no active treatment given. Twenty-eight patients treated with ECT were selected from the period 1945-1949, and 28 chlorpromazine-treated patients were selected from the period 1958-1964. Symptoms sufficient to fulfill a research diagnosis of mania had to be documented in the record for all patients. Results compare symptomatology, duration of hospital admission, discharge condition, discharge category, social recovery, and follow-up. Both ECT and chlorpromazine were superior to no active treatment for outcome measures considered. Ten chlorpromazine-treated patients did not respond satisfactorily to the chlorpromazine treatment but recovered with ECT treatment.