Psychiatry and convulsant therapy.

Because electroconvulsive therapy is an empirical and widely used treatment in modern psychiatry, there is a tendency for it to be applied without sufficient concern for the patient. In view of the critical attitudes which prevail in certain areas of society towards physical treatments generally, it is important that the medical profession maintains an objective and self-critical view of these therapies. The paper describes a small survey in an inpatient mental hospital which inquired into the attitudes of patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy. The principal areas of concern were found to be associated with the accompanying anaesthesia, subsequent memory defects, fear of pain and, above all, the anxieties associated with waiting for the treatment. Suggestions are made which could minimize these problems.