# shock therapy

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. The use of a single, very large dose of a medicine.
2. A government policy of a sudden release of price controls and immediate trade liberalization within a country.
3. Synonym of electroconvulsive therapy.

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

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shock-therapy