Electric shock treatments have apparently been successful in treating some forms of insanity, but doctors are beginning to suspect that the "cure" may be worse than the disease. The treatment, a jolting shot of high-powered current through the brain, causes convulsions that may dislocate the patient's jaw, break his bones, or even kill him.
A group of leading U.S. psychiatrists, headed by Dr. William C. Menninger, has now issued a stern warning against "abuses" of electric shock therapy. The psychiatrists believe that shock treatments have become a fad and are being prescribed recklessly (and...