Revealing the Mind Bender General
April 6th, 2009 by James BridleA disturbing little tale from the disturbingly recent past. In the 1960s and 1970s Dr William Sargant developed the controversial Deep Sleep Treatment in the Sleep Room of St Thomas's Hospital in London. James Maw talks to some of those who worked under Sargant in the late-1960s and to some of his former patients, who all say that they are still suffering from his treatment to this day. Visions of Cyphermen come to mind, but it's a bit more serious and sad than that. [MP3]
April 6th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
[...] or download the documentary via the excellent Speechification « Austin Spare [...]
April 9th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
The programme evoked memories of enforced ECT and mind-reprogramming in the early 1970’s by my psychiatrist and GP. Not the sleep room, but after a traumatic experience and broken engagement, leaving me with reactive depression, I was medicated with zombie-making drugs for three and a half years and then subjected to seven sessions of enforced ECT, all the while being repatterned/brainwashed into considering marrying a close friend of my GP’s, despite my initial protestations – ‘not him of all people’. Within a year of the treatment which was totally ineffective, I was married and am still suffering greatly for their control over the direction of my life.
April 9th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Dear Diana,
When I made this programme I knew that it would evoke painful memories for so many people. All I can say to you is that I have had so many letters and you are not alone.
I am glad that you have the courage to speak out.
With very best wishes,
James Maw.
April 10th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Dear James,
Thank you for your helpful comments. I would be most grateful if you might be able to put me in touch with other sufferers, as to bear this alone is torment, and to share experiences would help.
Thank you again for your concern.
Diana Mackenzie
April 15th, 2009 at 6:19 am
Diana and her fellow sufferers have my sympathy and best wishes.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
[...] 4 Revealing the Mind Bender General broadcast 1 April 2009 is about Dr William Sargent mentioned [...]
April 18th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I don’t think that I left the comment above, but I did link to this page, which must have something to do with it.
There’s a really good book – Brainwash by Dominic Streatfield that I reviewed on my site which has quite a lot about Dr Sargent. If you’re interested in this subject then also look up Dr Ewan Cameron also – an American psychiatrist whose techniques were even worse than Sargent’s
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Do you think William Sargant’s use of insulin coma therapy at St Thomas’s differed significantly from its widespread use in other hositals?
August 18th, 2009 at 12:20 am
My father was “treated” by a gung-ho psych with LSD in the 60s, didn’t help at all, in fact made him worse. He doesn’t talk about it much.
I can’t believe these people can be so wreckless with the minds of other humans.
August 18th, 2009 at 1:10 am
[...] recently broadcast a documentary about Sargant’s Sleep Room treatments. The program is titled Revealing the Mind Minder General Related articles by [...]
August 18th, 2009 at 7:23 am
Dear Diana M.
This is terrible and sad that mind alteration was conceived and created. The only positive use would be for schizophrenia or delusional trauma. For people that want to forget a trauma. But other than that, if it is used for personal gain, it has to be the most evil acts against humanity.
But all that said, I have a question for you: since you stated: ” Within a year of the treatment which was totally ineffective, I was married and am still suffering …” How do you have the cognitive reasoning to recognize you made a bad choice, and made a conscious decision, while still claiming to have been brainwashed. If you were “brainwashed” into marrying someone and actually went through with it, would you not be “pleased” with your “conscious” choice that you are obviously aware of? OR did you suddenly break out of the Spell? Just the fact that you are against a decision you consciously made and blame it on brainwashing, does not make sense. Many people marry someone thinking they are in love, only to later not be. That is not being brainwashed, that is time and discovery of the how the other fits into you life. If you are not happy with your choice in marriage, why blame it on someone else? That is said only because you are consciously making a statement about a choice you made with the same consciousness you used to make the negative statement. Strange, isnt it?
But again, referring to the act of consciousness manipulation, drug induced mind control and any sick mind manipulation it truly is evil and ruthless. After all, if one does not have their mind or identity, what do they have? Sick
August 18th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
[...] [speechification] [...]
March 17th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
My husband and I were neighbours of Dr.Sargent from 1964 onwards. In the 50’s we shared a cleaner, a lovely Portuguese lady called Rosa, who lived in the basement of Dr.Sargent’s house with her husband and son and looked after the Sargent’s house, but doing some cleaning outside to earn extra money. We loved Rosa, she was charming and had a deligthful and happy character. When she entered the menopause, she started having depressions. Dr.Sargent treated her, hospitalised her and gave her electric shock treatment which, eventually, changed her character totally. She came no longer to clean our house, but I heard that she became extremely agressive, attacking her husband violently and, literally, became a completely changed person. She died eventually, still relatively young, I think probably in her late 50’s. We assumed that this was due to Dr.Sargent’s treatment.
March 25th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
I was treated by Dr Sargant at the Wellington Hospital when I was a student nurse in London. I went onto the channel 4 programme under the name June, as I had something else going on at the time which has now come to a conclusion. Also I felt peculiar about speaking so openly about something which had been under wraps for years and years. I’m glad the programme has been given a second airing. It deserved it. I read Dominic Streatfeild’s book, Brainwash, which was brilliant, and as a result of that was able to get in touch, through the internet, with Anne White, who is written about in the chapter about sleep therapy and ECT. We shared the same experience, and in the same hospital, at more of less the same time. I was surprised to learn that Sargant was a failed physician, as we were always led to believe he was God-like. He certainly was charismatic.
The memories will always be painful, but thankfully a little dulled by time.
I have always wondered why he hated the idea of psychotherapy so much. At one point one of his main students broke away from him completely because of a disagreement concerning this, Dr Dally, who had worked closely with him, and was consultant psychiatrist at the westminster hospital preferred a talking approach, and would spend hours talking with a patient instead of using the liquid cosh approach. I never did understand why he referred me to Sargant, when I have always believed that psychotherapy would have been the answer, and I always felt like some kind of statistic or experiment.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Dear Doormouse,
Thank you for your response. I have only just looked at this site again. It is still very painful as I have tried to bury the memories over the years.
Yes, the ‘Spell’ broke after my father died, 12 years after my marriage, when I re-experienced grief, and realised ‘gratitude, for rescuing me from my pre-married nightmare’ was not love.
There was always a kind of dual feeling, my own desires and the doctors’ ‘prescribed way to think’. I knew I was not really happy to marry, but was convinced it was ‘the right thing to do’ despite my friend telling me what my gut feeling was also telling me – but the medics, with their status and power in the 1970’s, combined with drugs and ECT turned me into a blank canvas, compliant, and completely trusting of their suggestions.
After I divorced my husband because of his mental and physical cruelty, I have spent the last thirty odd years attempting to research and make sense of what happened and trying to help my children with their extensive problems.
I still have clear recollection of statements my GP and psychiatrist made to me which caused me to think and act in the way they wanted me to. Maybe if the ECT had had an effect (which apparently it does not for reactive depression), I might have had the short term memory loss they said I would have, and would have been unaware of their intervention, and not feel as if I had been mentally raped.
I also feel that I was used as an experiment by my psychiatrist who was renowned for ‘turning peoples’ lives around’ but who, I was later told by MIND, had been asked to take early retirement as so many of his previous patients had complained about their bad experiences. I tried to obtain my medical records, but was told they were all destroyed after ten years, so the only record is in my mind, and a small diary I kept. There are so many unanswered questions, and I still have deep anger and a quest for justice which I fear will never be resolved.
July 31st, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Having suffered a complete mental breakdown 3 days into my first job aged 16 in 1960 I was admitted to The Netherne Hospital Complex. Three months later I was discharged as they could make little or no improvement in me & I was unhappy there. I spent the next year sitting at home playing chess with myself supported entirely by my parents as I had not made enough contributions to claim sickness benefit. After this time had elapsed my parents approached my GP asking if something could not be done for me. She gave my parents the names & addresses of two Harley St. specialists. One was Sir……, the other William Sargant. My parents chose the latter, made an appointment & took me off to see him. His comments were that he found my case ‘interesting’ & would like to have it. He also stated that he had a private hospital that he thought my parents would not be able to afford but had a few NHS beds in Belmont Hospital in Sutton & would be prepared to admit me when one became vacant. A few weeks later I was admitted to Belmont (C2) & started on Insulin Therapy as I was told I was too light for my height & build. The daily injections started at quite a low dose & were increased in the attempt to induce a coma. I think everybody knew that I consciously resisted this (if one can) & the dosage was increased almost daily–until it reached more than 700 units still with no effect!! ( I mentioned this figure to my current Registrar Psyciaratrist ten days ago –her comment was & I quote -’you’d be dead’ . while I have no way of proving this dosage whilst in Belmont I did have my personal diary with me & there is an entry which reads—had test to see if I was Insulin resistant or coma resistant—tests which surely would not have been carried out if I was reacting to the treatment as Dr. Sargant expected!! My stay in Belmont lasted for three months & on discharge Dr. Sargant commanded ‘Get a job-any job’. soon I started work in a friends shop for 2 hrs. per morning & quickly rose to full-time work. Thus I considered that Dr. William Sargant had done me more good than the rest of the NHS & did so again when I had a relapse in1967. When Belmont closed my GP said she would continue to prescribe my drugs so long as I saw Dr. Sargant. although it was suggested to me that he was concentrating on private work as it paid better I could not agree as he said to me after one private consultation when naming his fee—-’Is that alright?’ At a later consultation he addressed me as ‘How are you old boy?’ At an earlier Outpatients appt. at Belmont he willingly autographed his book ‘The Unquiet Mind’ as WILL SARGANT which I am given to understand was the way he was addressed by only his closest circle of friends.
ALL IN ALL MY EXPERIENCE OF HIM CAN BE NOTHING BUT FAVOURABLE AS HE DID ME NO HARM BUT ON THE CONTRARY SET ME ON THE PATH TO BE ABLE TO LEAD A FAIRLY NORMAL LIFE______I LAST SAW HIM IN 1974. Subsequent to a further incident around that time I have remained living in the community for well over 30 years much of that time holding down a full-time job the foundations for which I fully attribute to ”UNCLE WILL”