ABSTRACT
The story of electroencephalogram in psychopharmacology is one of a promise that is, as yet, unfulfilled, perhaps never to be fulfilled. With first experiences with the new psychotropic drugs, many of the people believed that they were as effective as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), lobotomy and insulin coma, and since they were much easier to administer and seemingly less expensive, the drugs quickly replaced these treatments. When University Hospital opened an adult inpatient unit in 1980, the author turned to organizing an ECT service, and for the next 18 years used the service for research and teaching. To round out the services for patients and their families, a few years ago the author began work on a trade book on electroshock, a project which interested Oxford University Press. Modern psychopharmacology is divorced from electroshock in its clinical practice, training and research.
