Saved by Electroconvulsive Therapy
Psychiatric illnesses remain among the most mysterious maladies that doctors encounter. In the emergency department we see only the ‘snap-shot’ of what is often a chronic illness with a roller-coaster course of ups-and-downs and pervasive psychosocial consequences. We rarely get to fully understand the big picture.
This enthralling TED talk by inspiring medical historian and surgeon Sherwin Nuland gives a detailed account of one man’s illness. He starts by recounting aspects of the remarkable history of electroshock therapy. He then tells, for the first time, of his own nearly hopeless battle with severe and refractory depression. Ultimately, with a prefrontal lobotomy looming on the horizon, he was rescued by one of the most maligned and feared of all treatment options: electroconvulsive therapy.
Nuland’s tale of his rise from the ashes is a valuable lesson in hope, humanity and recovery for both doctors and patients alike.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEZrAGdZ1i8
One of the most remarkable and beneficial reforms of the nineteenth century has been in the attitude of the profession and the public to the subject of insanity, and the gradual formation of a body of men in the profession who labour to find out the cause and means of relief of this most distressing of all human maladies
William Osler, Medicine in the Nineteenth Century: in Aequanimitas, 228
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at The Alfred ICU, where he is Deputy Director (Education). He is a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University, the Lead for the Clinician Educator Incubator programme, and a CICM First Part Examiner.
He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives. He was one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) has been recognised for his contributions to education with awards from ANZICS, ANZAHPE, and ACEM.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Bluesky, he is @precordialthump.bsky.social and on the site that Elon has screwed up, he is @precordialthump.
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