The Sleep Room

THE SLEEP ROOM is a chilling expos of the bizarre psychiatric treatments inflicted on hundreds of women in the 1960s/70s - among them the actor Celia Imrie, who has been interviewed for the book - by a sinister and charismatic British doctor, William Sargant. Sargant kept his patients asleep for 21 hours a day, before using electro-shock convulsive therapy to "reprogramme" their brains to cure illnesses such as anorexia and schizophrenia. This is the first proper account of a scandal that the medical establishment would rather you didn't know about. Journalist Jon Stock has full access to the Sargant archive at the Wellcome Collection and has moving testimonies from survivors including Celia Imrie. He also explores the doctor's murky links with the CIA and MI5's mind-control programmes. The Sleep Room reveals a time when all-powerful male doctors could manipulate and abuse their female patients with impunity. And tells the story of a time when medics genuinely believed you could reprogramme people's brains.