Authors :
Desidério Duarte; Maria T. D. Viseu
Volume/Issue :
Volume 6 - 2021, Issue 11 - November
Google Scholar :
http://bitly.ws/gu88
Scribd :
https://bit.ly/3dnstMd
Abstract :
This year commemorates a century since the
discovery of insulin, a substance that in 1927 (only 6 years
after its synthesis) was used by Manfred Sakel to treat
patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic diseases.
The insulinic shocks were in fact one of the revolutionary
milestones and drivers of biological treatments in
psychiatry.
Objective - When celebrating the 100th anniversary of the
discovery of insulin and its importance in the revolution of
treatments and imposition of Psychiatry as a medical
specialty, this article seeks to review the literature on this
treatment and it’s positioning in the history of biological
treatments throughout the twentieth century.
Methods - Non-systematic review of the literature on the
theme under study. Search was done in the PubMed
database, with the following keywords: shock therapy;
seizure therapy; biological treatment; insulin therapy.
Results - The most used treatments throughout the 20th
century were insulinic shocks, malariotherapy, camphorinduced convulsions and electroconvulsive therapy. The
use of these treatments was based on the principle that
seizures were beneficial for alleviating symptoms and
curing various mental illnesses, including schizophrenia.
Although there are several reports from this time about
the recovery of patients submitted to these techniques,
electroconvulsive therapy was in fact the first biological
treatment to present cohesive and consistent positive
results.
Conclusion - At a time when the etiology of psychiatric
pathologies was unknown, the use of insulin shocks and
induction of seizures for the treatment of schizophrenia
and other psychotic diseases revolutionized the treatment
in psychiatry. With the discovery of psychotropic drugs,
namely antidepressants and antipsychotics, most of these
techniques have gone into disuse and nowadays only
electroconvulsive therapy is used in specific cases.
Keywords :
Convulsive treatment; history of psychiatry; Sakel's method; electroconvulsive therapy component; formatting; style; styling; insert.
This year commemorates a century since the
discovery of insulin, a substance that in 1927 (only 6 years
after its synthesis) was used by Manfred Sakel to treat
patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic diseases.
The insulinic shocks were in fact one of the revolutionary
milestones and drivers of biological treatments in
psychiatry.
Objective - When celebrating the 100th anniversary of the
discovery of insulin and its importance in the revolution of
treatments and imposition of Psychiatry as a medical
specialty, this article seeks to review the literature on this
treatment and it’s positioning in the history of biological
treatments throughout the twentieth century.
Methods - Non-systematic review of the literature on the
theme under study. Search was done in the PubMed
database, with the following keywords: shock therapy;
seizure therapy; biological treatment; insulin therapy.
Results - The most used treatments throughout the 20th
century were insulinic shocks, malariotherapy, camphorinduced convulsions and electroconvulsive therapy. The
use of these treatments was based on the principle that
seizures were beneficial for alleviating symptoms and
curing various mental illnesses, including schizophrenia.
Although there are several reports from this time about
the recovery of patients submitted to these techniques,
electroconvulsive therapy was in fact the first biological
treatment to present cohesive and consistent positive
results.
Conclusion - At a time when the etiology of psychiatric
pathologies was unknown, the use of insulin shocks and
induction of seizures for the treatment of schizophrenia
and other psychotic diseases revolutionized the treatment
in psychiatry. With the discovery of psychotropic drugs,
namely antidepressants and antipsychotics, most of these
techniques have gone into disuse and nowadays only
electroconvulsive therapy is used in specific cases.
Keywords :
Convulsive treatment; history of psychiatry; Sakel's method; electroconvulsive therapy component; formatting; style; styling; insert.
