BOMBED OFF BICYCLE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 22, 27 February 1942, Page 6

BOMBED OFF BICYCLE

. -«. ■ MENTAL CASES CURED BY ELECTRIC TREATMENT An errand boy who was blown off his bicycle by a bomb explosion in a London air raid and developed mental illness has made an excellent recovery by a new treatment called electric convulsion therapy. The treatment throws the patient into an artificial epileptic fit which clears away mental disorder. The apparatus used, which is made in London, consists of two independent electrical circuits applied to the head. About forty of these units have now been supplied to hospitals and nursing homes in Britain. The treatment promises to be a great boon to mental patients who have periodical lapses, for it will allow them to resume their normal lives, attending hospital only from time to time as out-patients. Tt has long been known that a severe shock will cure or improve mental disorders but up to new the shock has been produced by drugs, often with harmful results. Such symptoms as vomiting, confusion, and excitement do not follow the electric 'treatment, a great advantage where patients have to attend from time to time, for it removes fear of unpleasant consequences. Many patients at the Warlingham Park Hospital, near London, where the treatment is being developed, have been suffering from mental illnesses resulting from air raids and the stress of war generally, and such depressive states have been among the most successful cases.