The fall of the Berlin Wall (A) symbolized the end of communism.

Gorbachev’s decision to allow elections with a multi-party system and create a presidency for the Soviet Union began a slow process of democratization that eventually destabilized Communist control and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Explanation: The economy of the former East Germany was the main factor that contributed to the collapse of communism in Germany.

Mikhail Gorbachev introduced perestroika to transform the Soviet Union, but it hastened its collapse. Just six years after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power as General Secretary of the Communist Party and introduced reforms, the Soviet Union collapsed and newly formed independent nations arose from the ashes.

Answer. It allowed the independent Soviet nations and satellite states to choose democracy over communism. Apart from Belarus, all other countries that became independent from the USSR rushed to change their systems and to become democratic countries.

Reasons for disintegration: i) Internal weakness of Soviet political and economical institutions. ii) Soviet Union used much of its resources in maintaining Nuclear and military arsenals. vi) The Soviet Union had became stagnant in administrative and political sense.

The Soviet Union, the second most powerful country in the the world suddenly disintegrated due to the following reasons: 1. The economic stagnation was rising over the years and had led to consumer shortages. The internal weaknesses of the Soviet Union were mostly observed in the political and economic institutions.

The model of transition in Russia, central Asia and East Europe came to be known as shock therapy. However, shock therapy wasn’t the best way to transition from communism to capitalism because: It was a sudden and immediate change that uprooted the entire existing system and wrecked havoc over the economy of the state.

Consequences of the Shock Therapy This came to be known as “the largest garage sale in history”. The value of the Russian currency, ruble declined considerably. People lost all their savings because of high rate of inflation. The collective farms disintegrated leaving people without any food security.

(i) It brought ruin to the economies and disaster upon the people of the entire region. (ii) In Russia, the large state-controlled industrial complex almost collapsed. (iii) The value of the ruble- the Russian currency declined. (iv) People lost all their savings due to high rate of inflation.

Economic policies in favor of shock therapy include ending price controls and government subsidies. Shock therapy can have a negative impact on the economy, causing unemployment to increase and civil unrest.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medical treatment most commonly used in patients with severe major depression or bipolar disorder that has not responded to other treatments. ECT involves a brief electrical stimulation of the brain while the patient is under anesthesia.

ECT may have a role in people who have comorbid depression and anxiety. The concern of some psychiatrists is that while ECT may help with depressive symptoms, it could worsen anxiety symptoms, including obsessional thoughts or panic attacks.

“It was like a mute button muffling the noise of my shrieking feelings.” So what is it actually like? You go in, have your blood pressure taken, sign a form, lie down, go to sleep, wake up with a slight headache and go home. And often, you feel instantly better.

ECT does not change a person’s personality, nor is it designed to treat those with just primary “personality disorders.” ECT can cause transient short-term memory — or new learning — impairment during a course of ECT, which fully reverses usually within one to four weeks after an acute course is stopped.

But some people experience more long-lasting or permanent memory loss, including losing personal memories or forgetting information they need to continue in their career or make sense of their personal relationships. Some people also find they have difficulty remembering new information from after they’ve had ECT.

The review of literature and present evidence suggests that ECT has a demonstrable impact on the structure and function of the brain. However, there is a lack of evidence at present to suggest that ECT causes brain damage.

The most persistent adverse effect is retrograde amnesia. Shortly after ECT, most patients have gaps in their memory for events that occurred close in time to the course of ECT, but the amnesia may extend back several months or years. Retrograde amnesia usually improves during the first few months after ECT.

Despite many scientific and governmental authorities having concluded that ECT does not cause brain damage, there is significant evidence that ECT has indeed caused brain damage in some patients, both historically and recently, and evidence that it always causes some form or degree of brain damage.