Deep Sleep Therapy was a bizarre psychiatric treatment in which drugs were used to induce a coma in patients during which the doctors would administer a variety of other mind drugs and electric shocks. The idea was that they'd awaken cured of mental disorders, ranging from depression to schizophrenia. One of the, er, "pioneers" was Dr. William Sargant in the UK who promoted the "therapy" in the 1960s and 1970s. Of course, Sargant is best known for his research on brainwashing. He's the author of Battle for the Mind: A Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing (1957), basically a how-to of techniques for reprogramming people. He also developed methods for implanting false memories, and was involved in the Project MKULTRA, the CIA's mind control and chemical interrogation research program. Delightful guy. The BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a documentary about Sargant's Sleep Room treatments. The program is titled Revealing the Mind Minder General
Deep Sleep Therapy and brainwashing researcher Dr. William Sargant
Deep Sleep Therapy was a bizarre psychiatric treatment in which drugs were used to induce a coma in patients during which the doctors would administer a variety of other mind drugs and electric shocks. The idea was that they'd awaken cured of mental disorders, ranging from depression to schizophrenia. One of the, er, "pioneers" was Dr. William Sargant in the UK who promoted the "therapy" in the 1960s and 1970s. Of course, Sargant is best known for his research on brainwashing. He's the author of Battle for the Mind: A Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing (1957), basically a how-to of techniques for reprogramming people. He also developed methods for implanting false memories, and was involved in the Project MKULTRA, the CIA's mind control and chemical interrogation research program. Delightful guy. The BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a documentary about Sargant's Sleep Room treatments. The program is titled Revealing the Mind Minder General
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Sargant. Was. A. Great. Man. Unfairly. Criticized. For. His. Completely. Ethical. Resarch.
ALL HAIL SARGANT.
If it's diabolical and serves the ruling elite, it's just got to be British!
This guy is an evil rhymes with Mouche Bag.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Ewen_Cameron
#2 freeyourcrt
Hooray! Looks like we stand a good chance of winning the Ashes this year as well!
#4 Thanks! for the link. I thot of that guy right away when I saw Sargant's 'achievements'.
Imagine the conversation if those two ever got together.
Right up there with the doctors who used to sterilize minority mothers 'for their own good'.
It was a burgeoning crowd.
See, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jay_Lifton,
(student of Erik Erickson) who got interested in 'thought reform' techniques in China he identified with 'totalism'.
Of course the Allies weren't the only countries interested in 'thought reform' during the cold war ... I suppose some of these blokes rationalized what they were doing, not so much as emulating from Mengele as understanding how people could be made in kamikazes.
There was a Nobel prizewinner back in those interesting times who advocated forced euthanasia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Carrel
In the early 70s I attended a psychology seminar at a well-known West coast University in which human groups were being modelled as black boxes (doesn't matter what's inside). So the 20th century had no shortage of people willing to poke and probe and manipulate (others) on any level. Always for noble ends, of course.
Yes of course you do. Did you get the last test erased from your memory? We won by 80 runs.
AND AN INNINGS.
#8 robulus
But when it comes to diabolically serving the ruling elite, I think we're still ahead.
Sadly, it seems the Sun is probably setting on this part of the Empire too. I think the Colonials in the Americas have acheived new levels of diabolicism in service...
I remember reading his book when it first came out, many years before his sleep therapy work became known. Within ten years I saw the techniques he discussed being used by the mind-fucking cults of the time. It's really good on the history of *brainwashing* methods, from voodoo to evangelism. Seriously spooky stuff.
Interesting story. I wasn't aware of the treatment's history. Given the restorative powers of sleep it has a certain degree of plausibility - as long as you ignore muscle wastage, atrophy and mental health issues, that is.
Sleep therapy was heady stuff back in the day. At least one SF writer used it as a plot device in his work: in Martin Caidin's novel "Cyborg" it's deployed as a suitably high-tech way of healing Steve Austin (yes, the Six Million Dollar Man himself) while his bionic limbs were fitted...
So, picture it-- it's 1960 and your brother Fred, who the family's always found a little odd, mentions that Jesus is telling him that the CIA is going to kill everyone in the house. Or sister Violet, who was always a little down, keeps trying to carve her wrists open whenever she gets a chance.
What do you do?
Yeah, this stuff is right up there with leeches and mustard plasters, but when there's not much in the way of actual treatment which will fix what's wrong in the brain, people will do any fool thing that offers a hope of working.
You are Number 6.
@ Cicada
and then there's always the possibility that those two were the only "sane" ones.
"appeal to common sense"
http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html#bandwagon
Wasn't there something similar on an episode of 'House MD' a few seasons back?
House wanted to be put into a deep coma to reset his brain's perception of pain...?
FFS
This is how science and technology works people. You have a idea you try it out and if it works you keep it.
In this case the therapy didn't work and was abandoned. But Dr Sargant was right to try it out.
Not to be pedantic, but the title of the audio at the end of the article is 'Revealing the Mind BENDER General'
@ #12 HEADFIRSTONLY
Don't forget an even better known example of sleep therapy references in literature...Brave New World.
BTW, this guy and his ilk seem to me to be an unwonderful thing.
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/LSD/marks.htm
#17 - are you serious? if you are, i would have to disagree and assert that science doesn't "work" by allowing you to experiment on people covertly and illegally without their informed consent.