Classics in ECT: Nathan Kline on Practical Management of Depression, JAMA 1964

"Classics in ECT" brings you this review from JAMA in 1964:


THE PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT OF DEPRESSION.

KLINE NS.JAMA. 1964 Nov 23;190:732-40. doi: 10.1001/jama.1964.03070210038007.PMID: 14201588 


The pdf is here.
And here are the ECT bits:




And about the author:


I hesitated to make this a "Classic in ECT," but then thought it had enough of the characteristics to qualify. Given who wrote it, and the early 1960s euphoria surrounding antidepressant medications, the somewhat dismissive attitude towards ECT is understandable. Of course, Nathan Kline became very famous and "electroshock" became ECT and did not go away.
Some of the drug development history in this article is interesting, and students/scholars of the history of psychiatry may want to read it in full, ~ 15 minutes.
Note that this paper was presented in relation to Dr. Kline's receiving the Lasker Award.



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