9. Electroconvulsive therapy
Developed in Italy during the 1930s, psychiatrists found that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) helped relieve symptoms of mental illness. But it worked in a rather disconcerting way — by inducing seizures through the use of electricity. Before the advent of ECT, the use of chemicals, especially one called Metrazole, was commonplace. But Metrazole had a rather nasty side effect: It created terror for some people prior to inducing a seizure. And some people were understandably so afraid of it that doctors and nurses had to chase them down to administer the drug. So Italian researchers were looking for a humane and less frightening way to induce seizures.
But while ECT could be used for good, it could also be used for evil. Evidence shows that while this therapy is beneficial for many patients it was also used to coerce those who were more difficult to control. It was an effective way to maintain order on the wards. And while modern methods of ECT are much safer, the treatment was actually physically dangerous back then. Perhaps the most famous portrayal of ECT comes from the movie “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” which starred Jack Nicholson. The movie was based on a novel by Ken Kesey, who worked at a mental hospital in the 1950s.