A shocking new book reveals the true extent of William Sargant’s brutal psychiatric treatments in 1940s and 1950s Britain. “The Sleep Room” by Jon Stock is a damning portrait of a man who, under the guise of medical progress, left a trail of broken lives in his wake.
Sargant, once hailed as an “iconoclast” and a brilliant teacher, was actually a sadist and zealot who championed therapies that were indifferent to patient suffering. His use of deep sleep therapy, also known as “continuous narcosis,” led to hundreds of female patients being drugged into induced comas for months at a time.
Many of these women were then subjected to repeated electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) while sedated and threatened with lobotomies if the therapies failed. The treatment was based on faith, not science, with Sargant believing in his own methods as the only way forward.
The book also reveals connections between Sargant’s work and Cold War psychiatric research and intelligence agencies. His patients included elite individuals such as politicians, spies, and artists, while those sent to the Royal Waterloo Hospital under duress were often young women deemed morally corrupt.
Stock suggests that Sargant was able to operate for so long without challenge due to his charisma, institutional complicity, and a post-war faith in psychiatric progress. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the dark side of medical history.
The Sleep Room: A Very British Medical Scandal is now available at £20 from Telegraph Books.
Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/review-jon-stock-sleep-room-very-british-medical-scandal