shock therapy

noun

: the treatment of mental illness by the artificial induction of coma or convulsions through use of drugs or electric current

called also shock treatment

Examples of shock therapy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Díaz-Canel in particular has been responding to pushback from ideological hardliners within the government and the Party, and to pushback from a population concerned about shock therapy measures. — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 4 Aug. 2026

In another, she is given botched electroconvulsive shock therapy without even a muscle relaxer. — Literary Hub, 1 July 2026

The shock therapy treatment has faced legal challenges for years. — O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 1 June 2026

That solution is the ultimate shock therapy for putting the dollar in command for a foreign nation. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for shock therapy

• brachytherapy
• chemotherapy
• cryotherapy
• hydrotherapy
• hypnotherapy
• monotherapy
• phototherapy
• psychotherapy
• sclerotherapy
• immunotherapy
• pharmacotherapy
• physiotherapy

Medical Definition

shock therapy

noun

: the treatment of mental illness by the artificial induction of coma or convulsions through use of drugs or electric current

called also convulsive therapy

see electroconvulsive therapy