ELECTRIC CONVULSIVE THERAPY AFTER TEN YEARS OF PHARMACOTHERAPY

The conclusions from this survey are obvious. Even though modern drugs represent an enormous progress in psychiatry and have increased the number of treatable patients immensely, they have not replaced previous treatments including ECT. Pharmacotherapy has undoubtedly contributed to the great strides made by social psychiatry, but it has been shown by various authors that in some countries these new developments in mental hospitals preceded the introduction of drugs. It was the purpose of this paper to counteract a trend frequently observed in psychiatry to discard established treatments in favor of newer ones. The original overenthusiasm for the new drugs 10 years ago was unjustified. It would be equally unjustified if some present disappointments should lead to their discreditation; but there is no reason to neglect any of the previously available methods. In this paper the indications of pharmacotherapy and ECT have been discussed. It was our aim to show that some indications overlap, that others differ and that judicious use of both methods is necessary for optimal therapeutic results.