Insulin Shock Therapy: When Medicine Induced Comas to Cure the Mind

For decades, psychiatrists deliberately pushed patients into life-threatening comas as a medical treatment.Known as Insulin Shock Therapy, this procedure was once considered a scientific breakthrough. Practiced in leading hospitals and taught at elite universities, it was believed that inducing seizures and near-death states could “reset” the diseased mind.In this episode of The Caduceus Files, we examine:how insulin shock therapy beganwhy it made sense to respected physiciansthe human cost paid by patients and familiesand how the practice ultimately collapsed under evidenceThis is not a story of cruelty or ignorance.It is a case study in how confidence, authority, and desperation can sustain dangerous medicine in the absence of proof.Memento Medicus.