Word: treatment
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Iran can never be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties. But many diplomats throughout the world would agree that, as a starting point in settling the current crisis, it would be fortunate if the Shah should proceed to Mexico or some other third country to continue his treatment and recuperation. Alternatively, suggests one prominent American expert on the Middle East, the Shah could help by renouncing, once and for all, his family's claim to the Peacock Throne. This expert believes the Shah might well be willing to make such a sacrifice as the price of staying...
With the introduction of strikingly effective antipsychotic drugs such as chlorpromazine and imipramine in the 1950s, the popularity of shock treatment began to wane. The decline was hastened by growing worry about the safety and efficacy of ECT and by charges that it was being used excessively and indiscriminately in institutions that were little more than "shock mills." Between 1972 and 1977 in New York State, for example, use of ECT dropped by 38%. Across the nation, according to a 1978 report by the American Psychiatric Association, one-third of psychiatrists have reservations about the practice...
Despite years of experience and large numbers of patients (an estimated 100,000 people undergo treatment in the U.S. each year), no one is exactly sure how ECT works. According to one theory, the seizure affects the hypothalamus, a portion of the brain regulating production of the body's mood-controlling substances. What is known is that patients often do not recall either the treatment or any events immediately before it. But critics of ECT, even as it is practiced today, say that it can also cause permanent brain damage, including a loss of memory of events...
...really incapable of giving informed consent-are coerced into agreement. Says Psychiatrist Lee Coleman of Berkeley, Calif: "I've never seen a single case when valid consent was given." But some patients claim the pressure comes mostly from family and friends who urge them not to undergo treatment. Says one Los Angeles college student, 22, who failed to respond to drugs and agreed to have ECT: "The hospital patients thought I was crazy to do it." Still, to protect the patients' rights, several states have rules governing use of ECT. California's model statute calls for seconding...
...widespread ambivalence about the return of electroconvulsive treatment was evident at a psychiatric conference this fall in Britain. While demonstrators picketed outside the meeting carrying placards reading ECT WAS APPROVED IN BUCHENWALD and CONTROL PSYCHIATRY WHILE YOU STILL HAVE A MIND TO, doctors inside reported that fully half of ECT patients questioned in a survey feared the treatment less than going to the dentist...