The Case of Geoffrey Holdsworth

A successful case of electric shock treatment for mental disorder was described in the London Spectator last week by a British journalist named Geoffrey Holdsworth.* Wrote he:

"It has been my misfortune to suffer from a manic-depressive temperament for most of my existence. It has been like walking over a level country scored by deep gullies. . . . Circumstances . . . brought on an attack of depression from which I seemed unable to extricate myself unaided. ... [A specialist] prescribed a course of Electrical Convulsant Therapy.

"I was required to abstain from food for four hours before the treatment. . . . When my turn came, I went into a room and lay on what looked like a surgical couch. My clothes were loosened, such things as collar studs and tiepin removed. My temples were then scrubbed with ether soap. Two electrodes were placed on my temples, and were kept in place by a rubber band across my forehead. A gag was put in my mouth.

"All this time I was conscious, though becoming drowsy as a result of the ether cleansing. The instant the shock button was pressed I lost consciousness. The next thing I knew was that I was lying in a cubicle with my escort sitting beside me. . . . For some minutes I could not remember where I was or that I had had the treatment. Gradually memory and mental clarity returned. . . .

"I had treatment once a week. It took several shocks to produce improvement; but then it was marked. I am bound to say that I feared and disliked the treatment. . . . After ten treatments I was much better, but after some weeks without treatment I relapsed, and had five more. . . . Again I relapsed. I tried hard to get well without further treatment; I dreaded the experience. But I had to go back, this time willingly, my resistance overcome at last.

"Now I am a completely fit man . . . infinitely better than at any time in the past. ... I can look back with detachment on my illness, knowing that in the unlikely event of its returning, a few maintenance treatments will put me right."

*Husband of Novelist G. B. Stern.

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