No access

Article

Published Online: August 1953

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE OXYGEN INHALATION THERAPY IN MENTAL DISORDERS

JOHN ALFRED FRANKAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 110, Number 2

https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.110.2.93

Get Access

Abstract

1. The clinical, experimental, and theoretical literature on carbon dioxide oxygen inhalation therapy (CDT) is reviewed and critically evaluated.

2. The over-all improvement rate in 238 nonpsychotic patients treated with CDT, collected from the literature, is 61%. The highest rate of improvement (83%) is reported in psychophysiologic disorders, the lowest (46%) in stutterers. The evidence indicates that these high improvement rates are exaggerated since most workers include "minimal" improvement in their statistics. If these patients had been correctly classified "unimproved," the rates would be lower and much more accurate.

3. CDT is apparently of little value in the treatment of psychoses, severe obsessive-compulsive, and hypochondriacal reactions.

4. CDT may be a useful adjunct to psychotherapy, causing rapid release of unconscious repressed memories and affects (abreaction), thereby shortening the duration of psychotherapy.

5. CDT is capable of causing amelioration of some neurotic symptoms without the use of concurrent psychotherapy. Ideally, however, CDT should be combined with or followed by psychotherapy in order to induce lasting improvement in the patient through the development of insight into the cause of his symptoms and emotional difficulties.

6. No fatalities or lasting complications from CDT have been reported. It is apparently the least harmful form of somatic therapy in psychiatry. However, since CDT is "potentially" dangerous both physically and psychologically, it should be given only by psychiatrists or other physicians with special psychiatric training. Indiscriminate use by untrained personnel might result in serious complications.

7. CDT may be of value in certain patients who are hostile to psychotherapy or who for various reasons are unable to receive other forms of treatment. Such individuals frequently become more cooperative during CDT, since they feel that something "active" is being done to help them and they frequently request further psychiatric treatment.

8. A major difficulty of CDT is the increasing severe anxiety that it induces, which causes many patients to discontinue treatment prematurely.

9. The mode of action of CDT is unknown. There is no scientific evidence that CO₂ is a specific agent in the treatment of nonpsychotic mental disorders, since many other anaesthetic agents exert similar effects.

10. Suggestions for further research are made, with particular emphasis on the need for adequate controls, prolonged follow-up studies, and physiological and biochemical analyses of the effects of CDT on man and experimental animals.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Get Access

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 110 • Number 2 • August 1953

Pages: 93 - 103

PubMed: 13065521

History

Published in print: August 1953

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Details

JOHN ALFRED FRANK

Assistant Attending Psychiatrist, NYU-Bellevue Medical Center; Assistant Psychiatrist, Vanderbilt Clinic, New York City.

View all articles by this author

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

View Options

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - American Journal of Psychiatry

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE OXYGEN INHALATION THERAPY IN MENTAL DISORDERS

Abstract

Get full access to this article