Max Fink (1923-2025)

Forty years after the inaugural issue of the journal Convulsive Therapy in March 1985—renamed in 1997 to The Journal of ECT —the scientific community now mourns the loss of the journal founder and first editor-in-chief, Max Fink. He was one of the world-leading experts who most vigorously advocated for and disseminated the benefits of convulsive therapy, both chemical and electrical, over these 4 decades. Fink believed that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was a potent treatment that should not be considered a last resort, asserting its efficacy for patients with severe mental disorders, including psychotic depression, delirious mania, treatment-resistant schizophrenia, catatonia, and postpartum depression and psychosis. He insisted that antidepressants and antipsychotics could have greater potential for harm than ECT, including memory loss. Beyond his robust research on ECT, Fink was a scholar of catatonia, advocating for its recognition as a syndrome separate from schizophrenia, and for changing the concept of melancholia, which he argued was a distinct psychomotor disorder separate from major depression. He published hundreds of scientific articles and more than a dozen books throughout his career, some of which are considered foundational in the field of psychiatry, such as “Convulsive Therapy: Theory and Practice and Electroshock: Healing Mental Illness.” This review situates the work of Max Fink within its historical context, examining his development from even before his first contact with ECT in 1952. Following his death on June 15, 2025, his legacy endures through his scholarly output, the influential journal he founded, and the hundreds of students, residents, researchers, and colleagues whom his work continues to teach and inspire.