PSYCHODRAMATIC SHOCK THERAPY A SOCIOMETRIC APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF MENTAL DISORDERS

Abstract

This paper presents a sociometric approach to the problem of mental disorders by means of the psychodrama. During lucid intervals of the psychotic attack or immediately after it the patient is stimulated by use of a warming-up process to throw himself back into the psychotic world. This upsetting experience is called "psychodramatic shock." The significance of the procedure is two-fold. It offers a research method for the study of the social atom in the psychoses; and thus offers a new frame of reference-the psychodrama, through which the deeper changes which take place in mental disorders can be understood. Secondly, it has a cathartic effect upon the patients. It enhances their spontaneity and creates barriers against recurrence. The treatment is illustrated by three cases-a schizophrenia, a manic-depressive psychosis, and a psychoneurosis.