title: History, power, and electricity: American popular magazine accounts of electroconvulsive therapy, 1940-2005.
abstract: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment that has been in use in the United States since the 1940s. During the whole of its existence, it has been extensively discussed and debated within American popular magazines. While initial reports of the treatment highlighted its benefits to patients, accounts by the 1970s and 1980s were increasingly polarized. This article analyzes the popular accounts over time, particularly the ways in which the debates over ECT have revolved around different interpretations of ECT's history and its power dynamics.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Lapeer, Michigan, USA. lauradh@med.umich.edu
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hirshbein
authors.forename: Sharmalie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarvananda
mesh_terms: D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D011210:Power Plants / Q000266:history*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history*; D011643:Publishing / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States