shock therapy

English

Etymology

From shock +‎ therapy. The medical sense first appears c. 1917 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Noun

shock therapy (usually uncountable, plural shock therapies)

1. (medicine, pharmacology) The use of a single, very large dose of a medicine.

   Hyponym: insulin shock therapy

2. (informal, economics) A government policy of a sudden release of price controls and immediate trade liberalization within a country.
3. Synonym of electroconvulsive therapy