What is the history of ECT? How has it evolved over time?
Convulsive therapy was introduced in 1934 by a Hungarian neuropsychiatrist Ladislas J. Meduna, who observed that patients with both psychotic disorders and epilepsy seemed to improve psychiatrically after having an epileptic seizure. He theorized that schizophrenia and epilepsy were antagonistic disorders, and induced seizures with first camphor and then metrazol (cardiazol). Although his theory was incorrect, his observation that mood improved with seizures was accurate, and thus a new treatment option was born. Within three years, metrazol convulsive therapy was being used worldwide. In 1937, the first international meeting on convulsive therapy was held in Switzerland by the Swiss psychiatrist Muller. Italian professor of neuropsychiatry Ugo Cerletti and his colleague Lucio Bini developed the idea of using electricity as a substitute for metrazol in convulsive therapy. In 1937, they introduced the use of electricity induced seizure in humans. Cerletti and Bini were nominated for a N
