ShockKitty Dukakis has battled debilitating depression for more than twenty years. Coupled with drug and alcohol addictions that both hid and fueled her suffering, Kitty's despair was overwhelming. She tried every medication and treatment available; none worked for long. It wasn't until she tried electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, that she could reclaim her life. Kitty's dramatic first-person account of how ECT keeps her illness at bay is half the story of Shock. The other half, by award winning medical reporter Larry Tye, is an engrossing look at the science behind ECT and its dramatic yet subterranean comeback. This book presents a full picture of ECT, analyzing the treatment's risks along with its benefits. ECT, it turns out, is neither a panacea nor a scourge but a serious option for treating life threatening and disabling mental diseases, like depression, bipolar disorder, and others. Through Kitty Dukakis's moving narrative, and interviews with more than one hundred other ECT patients, Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy separates scare from promise, real complications from lurid headlines. In the process Shock offers practical guidance to prospective patients and their families, boldly addressing the controversy surrounding ECT and awakening millions to its capacity to heal. |
Contents
Three A DARK PLACE | |
Five A LITANY OF TREATMENTS A DEARTH OF CURES | |
Seven LIFTING THE CLOUD | |
Nine I FORGET | |
Eleven A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM | |
EPILOGUE | |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | |
Other editions - View all
Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy Kitty Dukakis,Larry Tye No preview available - 2007 |
Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy Kitty Dukakis,Larry Tye No preview available - 2006 |
Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy Kitty Dukakis,Larry Tye No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Abrams addiction administered Adolescents alcohol American Journal American Psychiatric Association anesthesia Anne Donahue anti-ECT antidepressants asked Author interview better bilateral bipolar bipolar disorder Boston brain damage British Journal called catatonia Cerletti Charlie Clinical Convulsive Therapy Cuckoo’s Nest diet pills disease disorder dose drinking drugs Dukakis e-mails early ECT doctors ECT patients ECT treatments ECT’s electric Electric Shock Treatment Electroconvulsive Therapy electrodes Electroshock Therapy experience feel getting ECT insulin coma interview with Dr Joan Prudic John Journal of ECT Journal of Psychiatry Kitty Kitty Dukakis later less Lisanby Major Depression mania Max Fink Medicine Meduna memory loss Mental Health mental hospitals mental illness Metrazol Michael months percent problems procedure remember Report researchers Richard Richard Weiner says schizophrenia seizure sessions Shock Therapy shock treatment side effects stopped suicide symptoms talk things today’s Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treat Ugo Cerletti unilateral week Weiner York