METRAZOL THERAPY

A form of shock therapy introduced by the Hungarian psychiatrist, Ladislaus von Me- duna, in 1935. He had observed that in schizophrenic patients who were also afflicted with epilepsy the psychotic symptoms tended to disappear following seizures. This led to a search for a means of producing artificial epileptiform convulsions. He eventually tried intravenous injections of metrazol. With this drug he succeeded in producing predictable convulsions, and the effect upon schizophrenic patients appeared highly promising.Metrazol was widely administered for a time as an alternative to insulin coma therapy, but it soon began to fall into disuse because of its unfortunate effects on a large number of patients. Fractures were frequent during the convulsions, intense feelings of dread were experienced just before losing consciousness, and the incidence of fatality was high. The technique, however, achieved one important result. It focused attention on the beneficial effect of convulsive treatment, and thereby helped to pave the way for electroconvulsive therapy