History of Electroconvulsive Therapy The classical application of electricity to medicine began with the treatment of headache convulsions by the Romans with electric fish. Psychosis was controlled by the Swiss internist (Paraclus) in the 16th century using oral tincture of camphor to produce convulsions and later by the use of bromine and pentazocine to induce convulsions to control insanity. The first electroconvulsive shock was applied in 1938 by a Roman (Cerletti, Bini) to treat a schizophrenic patient whose main manifestations were hallucinations, delusions and incomprehensible behavior, and the patient’s above symptoms miraculously disappeared after 11 treatments. www.med68.net同年在Bini在 The American Journal of Psychiatry published his paper in English for the first time “An experimental study of the production of epileptic seizures by electric current”. Electroconvulsive therapy really came to the United States in 1940, after which it developed rapidly in the United States. Outline of the development of electroconvulsive therapy in China: The history of electroconvulsive therapy in China can be traced back to the 1940s, but it was stopped and revived, especially during the Cultural Revolution when serious criticism was given. In the late 1940s, the East China Psychiatric Hospital (now Nanjing Brain Hospital) introduced one Reiter WC56 type and one Medcraft B type therapeutic instrument each from the United States, and in 1951, the Prof. Chongcheng Xue designed our first domestic electroconvulsive therapy instrument, but after that the development was slow. Currently, all domestic electroconvulsive therapy instruments are imported from the U.S., mainly the two models of Awake Pulse and Sibeton, and currently our hospital is using the fourth generation of Awake Pulse electroconvulsive therapy instrument. Preparation for electroconvulsive therapy: 1.The doctor in charge should provide the medical history of the patient to be treated (including whether he/she has received electroconvulsive therapy in the past). 2.The MECT physician should review the following information provided by the supervising physician: a. Informed consent form signed by the guardian. b. Application form for electroconvulsive therapy. c. Indications and contraindications. d. Laboratory tests: electrocardiogram, chest X-ray, routine blood count, biochemical tests. e. Physical examination. 3.The MECT physician confirms that the patient can administer electroconvulsive therapy and signs the application form. 4. Cleanse the face with soap as much as possible before treatment, especially the forehead and both temporal sides, in order to reduce the electrical resistance of the patient’s scalp and to reduce the possibility of high voltage. 5. The physician in charge should issue a treatment order. 6. The MECT physician should make a treatment plan according to the patient’s specific situation.