Was anybody else surprised to see a 1956 movie showing electroshock therapy? I understand this was a popular and acceptable form of therapy in the 40s and 50s but I also thought it was kind of taboo to talk about it, let alone show it in the movies (I was expecting the camera to cut away).
shareThe movie seemed to be breaking some new ground in that they showed the shock therapy and they also showed the couple sleeping in the same bed which so many television shows avoided by having twin beds (Father Knows Best, I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show). This was heading toward the latter fifties when the taboos were starting to be broken down.
share...only with the Kennedy name in the same breath was it taboo to talk about.
shareThey were still using it in the 70s, as a cure for alcoholism.
shareECT therapy is still used today. This film really was ahead of its time, the double bed, him moving in with her, the May/December romance and the frank talk about mental illness. Great movie!
shareThe orderly (or male nurse) in that scene was touching Burt's hand during the shock session. Wouldn't the current be running into him too?
shareECT uses very low levels of current and is not felt by anyone touching the patient. The depiction of ECT in most movies and TV Shows is very exaggerated
for dramatic effect. It is nothing like as shown in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's
Nest" for example. It is used today as a very effective treatment for Clinical Depression.
Very very surprised to see it. For those who don't know it's designed for all intents -- to delete portions of one's memory.
Kisskiss, Bangbang