Electrosleep Therapy: A Controlled Study of its Effects in Anxiety Neurosis

Abstract

This study has investigated the effects of electrosleep treatment, or cerebral electrotherapy (CET) on the symptoms of ten subjects with anxiety neurosis. A blind crossover experimental design, in which subjects received five consecutive days of active and five days of placebo treatment was employed, the order being counterbalanced. The subjects’ experience of CET, particularly with regard to cutaneous sensation, was identical for both treatment conditions. Anxiety levels were determined pre- and post-treatment using daily psychological and physiological measures. Weekly symptom measures were also obtained before and after each type of treatment and one week and four weeks after the treatment terminated. The results showed a statistically significant overall improvement in the levels of anxiety, but no difference between placebo and active treatment. Nor was there any significant difference between these two treatment conditions in their effect upon physiological measures made while treatment was in process. There was a post hoc finding of a significant correlation between the overall response to this procedure and extraversion as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI). The implications of these findings are that the therapeutic effectiveness of CET is attributable to non-specific or placebo components of the treatment, and not to the direct effects of electrical current on the brain.