Introduced in 1927 by Dr. Manfred Sakel, insulin shock therapy, also known as insulin coma therapy, was a treatment for schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. It involved injecting patients with large doses of insulin to cause daily comas over several weeks. While some patients experienced improvement in their symptoms, insulin shock therapy was risky, resulting in prolonged comas or even fatalities. By the 1960s, the therapy was abandoned in favor of new antipsychotic medications.