Old School Mental Therapy

Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, we are shown the grotesque practices preformed on mental patients. Over one of the snow days I watched the movie The Wolfman. Now given, the mental patient in the movie was actully a werewolf, and not just a regular crazy person, and the wolf dude was in England as opposed to America, but there were some similarities in treatment. Both the werewolf man and Bromden went through shock therapy. How could two relatively well established countries think that was possibly a good idea? Seriously, what were they thinking? Maybe that since electricity turns on lightbulbs, and lightbulbs are often a symbol of someone having a good idea, they think that the electricity will zap the patient into having some good ideas? It was interesting reading about Bromden's mental facility and shock therapy experience, and seeing it actully happening in the Wolfman. I don't understand how that could ever seem like a smart thing to do. Were mad scientists at the heads of these mental facilities? And what did they expect if it didn't work? The wolfman eventaully brutally murdered his main doctor who initiated his treatment, but I cant see Bromden doing that. These scientists were so dumb. I feel like I could even realize that shocking someone was not a good idea.