Max Fink
Encyclopedia
Max Fink is an American psychiatrist
best known for his work on ECT
(electroconvulsive therapy).
, Austria
, in 1923. His parents were a physician
and a social worker. The family left Austria for the US in 1924.
Fink married in 1949. He and wife Martha have 3 children: Jonathan, a professor of geology
at Portland State University and Rachel and Linda, professors of biology
at Mt. Holyoke College and Sweet Briar College.
Fink studied medicine at New York University College of Medicine, qualifying in 1945. He spent two years as an army medical officer. He was trained at Montefiore, Bellevue and Hillside Hospitals, each in New York. By 1954 he was board certified in psychiatry
, neurology
and psychoanalysis
.
in 1966 and professor of psychiatry and neurology at SUNY at Stony Brook in 1972.
Early research included federal government funded research into the changes in brain waves (electroencephalogram) induced by electroshock, antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs, opiates and narcotic antagonists, and cannabis and metabolites. . For the past fifty years Fink's main interest has been first in electroshock and then in psychopathology. . Over the years his ideas on ECT have evolved from an early suggestion that the biochemical basis of ECT is similar to that of craniocerebral trauma through to statements that organic mental syndrome is seen in all patients following ECT but is usually transient and finally to the position that ECT-induced memory loss is a hysterical symptom with parallels to the Camelford
incident.
His most recent interest is in the psychiatric syndromes of catatonia and of melancholia.
In 1985 Fink founded the journal Convulsive Therapy (now called the Journal of ECT). He was a member of the American Psychiatric Association's
task forces on ECT 1975-1978 and 1987-1990.
Fink's awards include the Electroshock Research Association Award (1956), the Laszlo Meduna
Prize of the Hungarian National Institute for Nervous and Mental Disease (1986), and Lifetime Achievement Awards of the Psychiatric Times (1995) and of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (1996).
He is professor emeritus of psychiatry and neurology at SUNY at Stony Brook and has been on the faculty at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
and the LIJ-Hillside Medical Center
. He spends much of his time writing; recent books include Electroshock: restoring the mind (1999, Oxford University Press); with Jan-Otto Ottosson, Ethics in electroconvulsive therapy (2004, Brunner Routledge); and with Michael Alan Taylor, "Catatonia: A Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment" (2003, Cambridge University Press), and "Melancholia: The Diagnosis, Pathophysiology, and Treatment of Depressive Illness" 2006, Cambridge University Press).
Fink has funded a book on the history of ECT by Edward Shorter and David Healy
.
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
best known for his work on ECT
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
(electroconvulsive therapy).
Early life, marriage and qualifications
Fink was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, in 1923. His parents were a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and a social worker. The family left Austria for the US in 1924.
Fink married in 1949. He and wife Martha have 3 children: Jonathan, a professor of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
at Portland State University and Rachel and Linda, professors of biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
at Mt. Holyoke College and Sweet Briar College.
Fink studied medicine at New York University College of Medicine, qualifying in 1945. He spent two years as an army medical officer. He was trained at Montefiore, Bellevue and Hillside Hospitals, each in New York. By 1954 he was board certified in psychiatry
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
and psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
.
Academic positions, research and awards
Fink was appointed research professor of psychiatry at Washington University in 1962, at New York Medical CollegeNew York Medical College
New York Medical College, aka New York Med or NYMC, is a private graduate health sciences university based in Westchester County, New York, a suburb of New York City and a part of the New York Metropolitan Area...
in 1966 and professor of psychiatry and neurology at SUNY at Stony Brook in 1972.
Early research included federal government funded research into the changes in brain waves (electroencephalogram) induced by electroshock, antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs, opiates and narcotic antagonists, and cannabis and metabolites. . For the past fifty years Fink's main interest has been first in electroshock and then in psychopathology. . Over the years his ideas on ECT have evolved from an early suggestion that the biochemical basis of ECT is similar to that of craniocerebral trauma through to statements that organic mental syndrome is seen in all patients following ECT but is usually transient and finally to the position that ECT-induced memory loss is a hysterical symptom with parallels to the Camelford
Camelford
Camelford is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles north of Bodmin and is governed by Camelford Town Council....
incident.
His most recent interest is in the psychiatric syndromes of catatonia and of melancholia.
In 1985 Fink founded the journal Convulsive Therapy (now called the Journal of ECT). He was a member of the American Psychiatric Association's
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
task forces on ECT 1975-1978 and 1987-1990.
Fink's awards include the Electroshock Research Association Award (1956), the Laszlo Meduna
Ladislas J. Meduna
Ladislas J. Meduna was a Hungarian neurologist and neuropathologist noted for his development of shock treatment for persons suffering from schizophrenia.Meduna was born to a well-to-do family in Budapest, Hungary, in 1896...
Prize of the Hungarian National Institute for Nervous and Mental Disease (1986), and Lifetime Achievement Awards of the Psychiatric Times (1995) and of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (1996).
Retirement
In 1997 Fink moved to the Long Island Jewish Hillside Hospital to organize a government supported 4-hospital collaborative program examining continuation treatments in patients with major depression after successful ECT. The study group under the acronym "CORE" -- Consortium on Research in ECT—has published on the merits of continuation ECT and continuation medication to sustain remission. [Kellner CH, Fink M, et al.: Continuation ECT versus pharmacotherapy for relapse prevention in major depression: a multi-site study from CORE. Archives General Psychiatry 2006; 63:1337-44]. With Michael Alan Taylor, he reviewed the status of ECT in "Electroconvulsive Therapy: Evidence and Challenges" in the Journal of the American Medical Association [2007; 298:330-332.]He is professor emeritus of psychiatry and neurology at SUNY at Stony Brook and has been on the faculty at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a graduate school of Yeshiva University. It is a not-for-profit, private, nonsectarian medical school located on the Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus in the Morris Park neighborhood of the borough of the Bronx of New York City...
and the LIJ-Hillside Medical Center
Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Long Island Jewish Medical Center shares the title of clinical and academic hub of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. It is an 827-bed voluntary, non-profit tertiary care teaching hospital serving the greater New York metropolitan area. The campus is east of Manhattan, on the border of Queens...
. He spends much of his time writing; recent books include Electroshock: restoring the mind (1999, Oxford University Press); with Jan-Otto Ottosson, Ethics in electroconvulsive therapy (2004, Brunner Routledge); and with Michael Alan Taylor, "Catatonia: A Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment" (2003, Cambridge University Press), and "Melancholia: The Diagnosis, Pathophysiology, and Treatment of Depressive Illness" 2006, Cambridge University Press).
Fink has funded a book on the history of ECT by Edward Shorter and David Healy
David Healy (psychiatrist)
David Healy is an Irish psychiatrist who is currently a professor in Psychological Medicine at Cardiff University School of Medicine, Wales. He is also the director of North Wales School of Psychological Medicine. He became the centre of controversy concerning the influence of the pharmaceutical...
.