Reil's proposed shock cures

Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful · Johann Christian Reil · 1803 · Halle

What it is

This guide is listed for the history of ideas and for safety. It is not a therapy to use. The guide gives the psychotherapist's own work: historical literacy, recognition of fear- and shock-based "cures" and their legacy, and work with clients and families affected by coercive treatment.

Format

• Session number and length follow the client's needs and the setting. The phases below are the psychotherapist's own work.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• E. Advocacy and follow-up. Goal: support complaints, rights-based advocacy and humane, consented alternatives; review outcomes.
• Were they used? Tromans doubts that the cat piano was ever used in a clinic. He reports that Richards (1998) doubts it was ever built, and he reads Reil's book as a literary model of "how psychiatry might be" rather than a record of practice. A University of Iowa rare-book newsletter states that no cat piano is known to have been built. The same newsletter also lists water and noise shocks among Reil's procedures,…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the family proceeding anyway; covert enrolment. It is working when the family chooses consented, supported care.
• the client's energy and wellbeing during a long process. It is working when the client feels their voice counts.
• the client appeasing you; later dropout. It is working when the client can tell you what felt wrong and stays in the work.
• fear that referral means coercion; reassure and prepare. It is working when the client attends and reports feeling respected.
• voyeuristic interest in the methods; redirect to principles. It is working when trainees connect history to their own practice.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.