Miya Pearson
Deep sleep therapy (DST), also known as prolonged sleep treatment or continuous narcosis, is a controversial and discredited form of psychiatric treatment. The treatment involves keeping patients unconscious for days or weeks using a combination of drugs. DST was popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, and was used in some mental hospitals in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, primarily for patients with schizophrenia. The method was also adopted and promoted by leading psychiatrists in the 1950s and 1960s. However, DST fell out of favour due to its risks and controversial history, including patient deaths. The treatment was banned in Australia in 1983 after a media exposé and complaints filed by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Despite its ban, DST remains a significant topic as it highlights the need to address dangerous and coercive practices in the mental health industry.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| What is Deep Sleep Therapy | A discredited form of psychiatric treatment in which drugs are used to keep patients unconscious for days or weeks |
| Synonyms | Prolonged sleep treatment, continuous narcosis |
| History | Popularized in the early 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi |
| Used in some mental hospitals in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s | |
| Banned in Australia in 1983 | |
| Position Statement 34: Deep Sleep Therapy was rescinded in June 2023 | |
| Proponents | Dr Harry Bailey, chief psychiatrist at Chelmsford Hospital |
| William Sargant in the United Kingdom | |
| Donald Ewen Cameron, a North American psychiatrist of Scottish origin practising in Canada | |
| Funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as part of their Project MKULTRA | |
| Patients | Most patients treated had schizophrenia |
| Patients with sleep fragmentation or sleep deprivation | |
| Patients with manic and catatonic excitement, severe anxiety and depression | |
| Patients with drug addiction, motion sickness, insomnia | |
| Criticism | Led to 24-25 patient deaths and 24 suicides |
| Patients reported being inflicted with brain damage and paralysis | |
| The United Nations Committee against Torture deemed the coercive use of electroshock as torture |
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What You'll Learn
- Deep sleep therapy is a discredited psychiatric treatment
- The treatment was popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi
- The controversial practice led to 25 patient deaths at Chelmsford Private Hospital
- Dr Harry Bailey, chief psychiatrist at Chelmsford, developed deep sleep treatment
- The Citizens Commission on Human Rights campaigned to ban deep sleep treatment
Deep sleep therapy is a discredited psychiatric treatment
Deep sleep therapy (DST), also known as prolonged sleep treatment or continuous narcosis, is a discredited psychiatric treatment. It involves keeping patients unconscious for days or weeks using drugs. DST was first tried by Scottish psychiatrist Neil Macleod at the turn of the 20th century, but his method was soon abandoned due to its risks and toxicity.
DST was later popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, who used a combination of two barbiturates known as Somnifen. The treatment was used in some mental hospitals in the 1930s and 1940s, and was adopted by leading psychiatrists in the 1950s and 1960s, including William Sargant in the UK and Donald Ewen Cameron in North America.
However, DST was controversial and led to patient deaths. Between the early 1960s and late 1970s, 25 patients died at Chelmsford Private Hospital in New South Wales, Australia, where DST was administered by Dr. Harry Bailey, the hospital's chief psychiatrist. Former patients and their relatives pursued legal action and exposed the dangers of DST to the media. In 1983, Australia banned DST, making its administration a criminal offense under the New South Wales Mental Health Act. DST has since been rescinded and is no longer used as a treatment.
The treatment was often combined with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), resulting in memory loss for the patients. The controversial use of ECT without patient consent or through fraud and deceit has been deemed "a trespass to the person" and "an assault". The United Nations Committee against Torture has also classified the coercive use of electroshock as torture.
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The treatment was popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi
Deep sleep therapy (DST), also known as prolonged sleep treatment or continuous narcosis, is a form of psychiatric treatment that involves keeping patients unconscious for days or weeks using drugs. The treatment was popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, who used a combination of two barbiturates marketed as Somnifen by the pharmaceutical company Roche. The method became widely known and was adopted by some mental hospitals in the 1930s and 1940s.
The treatment was initially intended for patients with schizophrenia, but it was later prescribed for various conditions, including depression, obesity, premenstrual stress syndrome, and addiction. During the 1950s and 1960s, it was adopted and promoted by leading psychiatrists such as William Sargant in the United Kingdom and Donald Ewen Cameron in North America. Sargant noted the benefits of combining DST with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), stating that "many patients unable to tolerate a long course of ECT, can do so when anxiety is relieved by narcosis."
However, deep sleep therapy has been associated with several controversies and adverse events. Between the early 1960s and late 1970s, 25 patients died at Chelmsford Private Hospital in New South Wales, Australia, where the treatment was administered by Dr. Harry Bailey. In 1978, Sydney psychiatrist Brian Boettcher found little support for DST among his colleagues, but the treatment continued until 1979. The media and health authorities exposed the abuses at Chelmsford Hospital, leading to legal action pursued by former patients and their families.
In 1983, deep sleep treatment was banned in Australia following a campaign by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). The practice was deemed torturous and resulted in patient deaths and suicides. Despite the ban, electroshock therapy is still used in the psychiatric industry, prompting calls for global legislation to protect patients from dangerous and coercive practices. In June 2023, the Position Statement 34 on Deep Sleep Therapy was rescinded, indicating that the treatment is no longer officially recognised or endorsed.
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The controversial practice led to 25 patient deaths at Chelmsford Private Hospital
Deep sleep therapy (DST), also known as prolonged sleep treatment or continuous narcosis, is a controversial and discredited form of psychiatric treatment. The treatment involves keeping patients unconscious for days or weeks using various drug combinations. DST was popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, who used a combination of barbiturates known as Somnifen. The method was widely adopted in the 1930s to 1950s, particularly for patients with schizophrenia.
The controversial practice of DST led to 25 patient deaths at Chelmsford Private Hospital in New South Wales, Australia, from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. Dr Harry Bailey, the chief psychiatrist at Chelmsford Hospital, developed DST after studying deep sedation techniques in the US during a World Health Organization-funded tour in the 1950s. Bailey claimed that DST cured depressive illnesses and compulsive behaviours such as drug and alcohol addiction. However, other psychiatrists doubted the value of the treatment and were concerned about its risks.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) played a crucial role in exposing the dangers of DST and campaigning for its ban. In 1978, CCHR began filing complaints and exposing DST through the media, which led to several coroner inquests into patient deaths. This ultimately resulted in the ban on DST in 1983. In 1990, Judge John Slattery, who headed the government inquiry into DST, determined that administering electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) without a patient's consent constituted assault.
The use of DST at Chelmsford Hospital had devastating consequences, with patients dying while in a coma or shortly after their release. Some patients also reported suffering from brain damage and paralysis as a result of the treatment. The impact of DST extended beyond the physical, with patients experiencing memory loss and emotional trauma due to the invasive nature of the treatment.
The legacy of DST at Chelmsford Hospital highlights the importance of ethical and safe medical practices. While DST may have been developed with the intention of helping patients, the lack of oversight and understanding of the risks led to tragic outcomes. Today, DST is widely recognised as a dangerous and discredited practice, and its administration has been criminalised under the New South Wales Mental Health Act.
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Dr Harry Bailey, chief psychiatrist at Chelmsford, developed deep sleep treatment
Deep sleep therapy (DST), also called prolonged sleep treatment or continuous narcosis, is a discredited form of psychiatric treatment in which drugs are used to keep patients unconscious for days or weeks. The treatment was first tried by Scottish psychiatrist Neil Macleod at the turn of the 20th century, but it was soon abandoned due to its toxicity and recklessness.
Dr Harry Bailey, the chief psychiatrist at Chelmsford Private Hospital in Sydney, Australia, developed and popularised deep sleep treatment. Between 1962 and 1979, Bailey bore primary responsibility for the treatment of mental health patients and drug-dependent clients through DST and other methods. Bailey's treatment involved administering massive doses of barbiturates to induce a coma lasting up to 39 days, during which electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) was also used. He claimed that DST cured depressive illnesses and compulsive behaviours, such as drug and alcohol addiction. However, Bailey's methods were controversial and led to patient deaths. Over a dozen patients given DST at Chelmsford died while in a coma or shortly after their release. The total number of deaths linked to DST at Chelmsford ranges from 24 to 85, including suicides.
Bailey had studied electroconvulsive therapy and pharmacological care under Sir William Trethowan and Cedric Howell Swanton in Australia. He favoured practical treatments like drug therapy and psychosurgery over psychoanalysis. Bailey claimed to have learned DST from psychiatrists in Britain and Europe, but his Australian version was more extreme, with patients sedated for a median of 14 days, compared to a few hours in Europe. He likened DST to switching off a television, theorising that the brain would "unlearn" habits that led to depression and addiction during the extended shutdown.
The dangers of deep sleep treatment were exposed by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), backed by the Church of Scientology, through media reports and complaints filed with authorities. This exposure led to a ban on deep sleep treatment in 1983. Judge John Slattery, who headed the government inquiry, determined that administering ECT without patient consent constituted assault. Dr Bailey died by suicide in 1985 while facing committal proceedings over a patient's death.
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The Citizens Commission on Human Rights campaigned to ban deep sleep treatment
Deep sleep therapy (DST), also called prolonged sleep treatment or continuous narcosis, is a discredited form of psychiatric treatment in which drugs are used to keep patients unconscious for days or weeks. The controversial practice led to the death of 24 patients in Chelmsford Private Hospital in New South Wales, Australia, from the early 1960s to late 1970s. It also led to 24 suicides, and close to a thousand patients suffered brain damage.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) campaigned to ban deep sleep treatment. CCHR exposed the treatment through the media and in complaints filed with health and law enforcement authorities, obtaining several coroner inquests into patient deaths. CCHR also obtained the country's highest level of government inquiry into DST and mental health, leading to significant reforms. In 1983, CCHR's campaign succeeded in banning deep sleep treatment, making its administration a criminal offense under the New South Wales Mental Health Act.
CCHR has been active in organizing marches, public hearings, exhibits, and other actions to raise public awareness about the criminality rampant within psychiatry. In 1978, CCHR exposed abuses at Chelmsford, and in 1990, the hospital was forced to close. CCHR has also lobbied for legislative reform on mental health issues, such as the keeping of detailed computer records on involuntarily committed patients and their families, and drug experimentation without patients' consent.
CCHR has been accused of using pseudoscience and false information to validate their claims. However, in rare instances, they have uncovered real instances of questionable psychiatric care. CCHR's work has helped save the lives of millions and prevented needless suffering for millions more.
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Frequently asked questions
Deep sleep therapy (DST), also called prolonged sleep treatment or continuous narcosis, is a discredited form of psychiatric treatment in which patients are kept unconscious for days or weeks using drugs.
No, deep sleep therapy is no longer used. The treatment was popularised in the early 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, and was used in some mental hospitals in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. However, it was banned in Australia in 1983 after a campaign led by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) due to patient deaths and suicides.
Deep sleep therapy was banned because it was deemed dangerous and unethical. The treatment resulted in 24-25 patient deaths and 24 suicides at Chelmsford Private Hospital in New South Wales, Australia, from the early 1960s to late 1970s. Former patients also reported experiencing brain damage and paralysis as a result of the treatment.
The campaign to ban deep sleep therapy led by the CCHR resulted in its administration being criminalized under the New South Wales Mental Health Act. The CCHR continues to advocate for a global ban on electroshock therapy, which is still used involuntarily in the US and abroad, arguing that it is a human rights offense and a form of torture.
