Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
8-1948
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.S.W.
Department
Social Work
Committee Chair
Williams, Howell V.
Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)
Jacobson, Sylvia R.
Subject
Schizophrenics; Electroconvulsive therapy
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to inquire into the social adjustment of patients admitted to the Louisville General Hospital in 1946, diagnosed as schizophrenic, treated there with electroshock therapy and subsequently discharged to their homes or to the Central State Hospital. Schizophrenia, as we know, is considered one of the most serious of personality disturbances and accounts for a high proportion of the admissions to mental hospitals. There are over 20,000 schizophrenics entering mental hospitals in the United States yearly. Prior to the use of convulsive therapy the prognosis for schizophrenic patients was regarded as poor, and no methods of treatment had ever resulted in much success. About ten to fifteen per cent of hospitalized cases of schizophrenia made spontaneous social recoveries, that is, were able to leave the hospital and more or less maintain themselves even though some mental symptoms were still present.
Recommended Citation
Morgan, Lillian D., "A study of the social adjustment of schizophrenic patients following electroshock therapy." (1948). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2013.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2013
