Herbie Murray
Deep sleep therapy (DST) is a discredited medical practice that involves the continuous use of narcotic drugs to induce a state of deep sleep in patients. DST was popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, who used a combination of barbiturates marketed as Somnifen. The treatment was used on patients with schizophrenia, with Klaesi claiming a 30% improvement rate in his original sample of 26 patients. DST was also used in combination with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other therapies. Despite its popularity, DST was controversial, with some psychiatrists expressing doubts about its value and concerns about its risks. The Chelmsford Hospital scandal in the 1980s exposed the criminally negligent use of DST, which resulted in harm and even death for some patients.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| What is Deep Sleep Therapy | A discredited practice that involves the continuous use of narcotic drugs to induce a state of deep sleep in patients |
| Popularised by | Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi in the 1920s |
| Drugs used | Somnifen, a combination of barbiturates with diethyl and allylisopropyl barbituric acid |
| Other drug combinations | The Cloetta mixture, which contains paraldehyde, amylhydrate, chloral hydrate, alcohol, isopropyl-allyl-barbituric acid, digalene, and ephedrine |
| Patients | Most patients treated had schizophrenia |
| Improvement rate | About 30% in Klaesi's original sample of 26 schizophrenic patients |
| Spontaneous remission rate | 20% in a similar population |
| Fatality rate | Over 5% due to pneumonia and/or circulatory collapse |
| Chelmsford Hospital Scandal | 24 deaths from the treatment, leading to authorities taking action and the appointment of the Chelmsford Royal Commission |
| Major Proponent | Dr. Harry Bailey, who claimed it cured depressive illnesses and compulsive behaviour |
| Other Proponents | William Sargant (UK), Donald Ewen Cameron (North American practising in Canada) |
| Criticisms | Little support among psychiatrists, risk of harm to patients, potential for abuse, lack of credible evidence |
| Benefits | Relief of suffering, management of stress, anxiety, psychosis, drug addiction, motion sickness, insomnia, and other psychosomatic diseases |
| Drawbacks | Memory loss, potential for abuse, high fatality rate, brain damage, paralysis |
| Alternatives | CBT-I programs, relaxation therapy, sleep restriction, prescription sedatives |
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What You'll Learn
Deep sleep therapy was used to treat schizophrenia
Deep sleep therapy (DST) is a discredited medical practice that involves the continuous use of narcotic drugs to induce a deep sleep in patients. It was popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, who used a combination of barbiturates marketed as Somnifen. Klaesi's original sample consisted of 26 schizophrenic patients, with an improvement rate of about 30%, which was about 10% higher than the spontaneous remission rate in a similar population.
Despite the relatively small improvement rate, deep sleep therapy was used in some mental hospitals in the 1930s and 1940s and was adopted and promoted by leading psychiatrists in the 1950s and 1960s, including William Sargant in the United Kingdom and Donald Ewen Cameron in North America. Sargant wrote in his textbook, "An Introduction to Physical Methods of Treatment in Psychiatry", that many patients unable to tolerate a long course of ECT can do so when anxiety is relieved by narcosis.
Deep sleep therapy was also used in combination with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other therapies. For example, at Chelmsford Hospital, Dr Harry Bailey, the treatment's major proponent, claimed that deep sleep therapy cured depressive illnesses and compulsive behaviour, such as drug and alcohol addiction. However, over a dozen patients given deep sleep therapy at Chelmsford died while in a coma or shortly after their release from the hospital, and other patients claimed they suffered brain damage and paralysis as a result of the treatment.
In the 1980s, a series of articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and television coverage on 60 Minutes exposed the abuses at Chelmsford Hospital, forcing the authorities to take action and appoint the Chelmsford Royal Commission. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, co-founded by the Church of Scientology and Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus Dr Thomas Szasz in 1969, advocated for the victims.
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It was also used to treat depressive illnesses
Deep sleep therapy (DST) was a discredited medical practice that involved the continuous use of narcotic drugs to induce a state of deep sleep in patients. It 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. Klaesi's original sample consisted of 26 schizophrenic patients, and the improvement rate was about 30%, which was only about 10% higher than the spontaneous remission rate in a similar population. Nevertheless, the method became widely known and was used in some mental hospitals in the 1930s and 1940s.
The major proponent of DST, Dr Harry Bailey, claimed that it cured depressive illnesses and compulsive behaviour, such as drug and alcohol addiction. DST was also combined with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other therapies. However, other psychiatrists doubted the value of the treatment and were concerned about its risks. Dr Bailey and his small group of colleagues were the only psychiatrists to use DST with any frequency.
The Chelmsford Hospital scandal in the 1980s revealed the criminally negligent use of DST, which resulted in harm to patients, including 24 deaths from the treatment. Following this, the Chelmsford Royal Commission was appointed to tackle the complaints. Over a dozen patients given DST at Chelmsford died while in a coma or shortly after their release from the hospital. Other patients at Chelmsford claimed they were inflicted with brain damage and paralysis as a result of the treatment.
In conclusion, DST was used to treat depressive illnesses, but its effectiveness was questionable, and it was ultimately discredited due to the harm it caused to patients.
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Deep sleep therapy was used to treat compulsive behaviour
Deep sleep therapy (DST) is a discredited medical practice that involves the continuous use of narcotic drugs to induce a state of deep sleep in patients. It was popularised in the early 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, who used a combination of two barbiturates marketed as Somnifen by the pharmaceutical company Roche. Klaesi's original sample consisted of 26 schizophrenic patients, and he found that the improvement rate was about 30%, which is about 10% higher than the spontaneous remission rate in a similar population.
The method became widely known and was used in some mental hospitals in the 1930s and 1940s. It was also adopted and promoted by some leading psychiatrists in the 1950s and 1960s, such as William Sargant in the United Kingdom and Donald Ewen Cameron in North America. Sargant wrote in his standard textbook:
> Many patients unable to tolerate a long course of ECT, can do so when anxiety is relieved by narcosis...
One of the major proponents of DST, Dr Harry Bailey, claimed that it cured depressive illnesses and compulsive behaviour, such as drug and alcohol addiction. DST was also combined with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other therapies. However, other psychiatrists doubted the value of the treatment and were concerned about its risks. Dr Bailey and his small group of colleagues were the only psychiatrists to use DST with any frequency.
The Chelmsford Hospital scandal in the 1980s revealed the criminally negligent use of DST, which resulted in harm to patients. Over a dozen patients given DST at Chelmsford died while in a coma or shortly after their release from the hospital. Other patients at Chelmsford claimed they were inflicted with brain damage and paralysis as a result of the treatment. Following a series of articles and television coverage exposing the abuses at the hospital, the authorities took action, and the Chelmsford Royal Commission was appointed.
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It was used in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction
Deep sleep therapy was popularised in the 1920s by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi, using a combination of two barbiturates marketed as Somnifen by the pharmaceutical company Roche. The method became widely known and was used in some mental hospitals in the 1930s and 1940s. It was adopted and promoted by some leading psychiatrists in the 1950s and 1960s, such as William Sargant in the United Kingdom and Donald Ewen Cameron in North America.
Deep sleep therapy was also practiced in combination with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other therapies. The treatment's major proponent, Dr Harry Bailey, claimed that deep sleep therapy cured depressive illnesses and compulsive behaviour, such as drug and alcohol addiction. However, other psychiatrists doubted the value of the treatment and were concerned about its risks. Dr Bailey and his small group of colleagues were the only psychiatrists to use deep sleep therapy frequently.
Over a dozen patients given deep sleep therapy at Chelmsford died while in a coma or shortly after their release from the hospital. Other patients at Chelmsford claimed they were inflicted with brain damage and paralysis as a result of the treatment. Following a series of articles in the early 1980s in the Sydney Morning Herald and television coverage on 60 Minutes exposing the abuses at the hospital, the authorities were forced to take action, and the Chelmsford Royal Commission was appointed.
Sleep disturbances are extremely common in the early stages of recovery from alcohol dependence and may persist for several months despite continued abstinence. Studies indicate that sleep disturbances independently increase the risk for relapse to alcohol use, suggesting that targeting these problems during recovery may support abstinence. However, there is limited information in the addiction literature about available and effective treatments for sleep disturbances in recovering alcoholic patients.
Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) has shown promise as an intervention for insomnia in individuals with alcohol and possibly other drug use disorders. CBT-I therapy includes education about sleep, behavioural therapy (sleep restriction and stimulus control), imagery relaxation, and cognitive therapy. Treated participants demonstrated greater post-treatment improvements than controls on diary measures of sleep quality, sleep efficiency, number of awakenings, and time to fall asleep. Follow-up assessments at three and six months revealed maintenance of treatment gains.
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Deep sleep therapy was used in conjunction with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
Deep sleep therapy (DST) is a discredited practice that involves the continuous use of narcotic drugs to induce a state of deep sleep in patients. The therapy 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. Klaesi's original sample consisted of 26 schizophrenic patients, with an improvement rate of about 30%, which was about 10% higher than the spontaneous remission rate in a similar population.
Deep sleep therapy was also used in conjunction with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). ECT was often combined with sleep therapy as it was believed that the combination of treatments induced considerable memory loss for the period under narcosis. As a result, patients would not remember how long they had been asleep or what treatments they had received. This combination of treatments was adopted and promoted by leading psychiatrists in the 1950s and 1960s, such as William Sargant in the United Kingdom and Donald Ewen Cameron in North America.
The use of deep sleep therapy in conjunction with ECT was not without controversy. In the 1970s and 1980s, a series of articles and television coverage exposed the abuses at Chelmsford Hospital, including 24 deaths from the treatment. This led to the appointment of the Chelmsford Royal Commission to investigate the complaints. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, co-founded by the Church of Scientology and Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus Dr Thomas Szasz in 1969, advocated for the victims and received documents from the hospital. Despite the growing concerns, the treatment continued to be used into 1979.
In conclusion, deep sleep therapy was used in conjunction with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a way to induce memory loss and make it easier for patients to tolerate the ECT treatment. However, the combination of treatments was ultimately discredited due to its association with patient deaths and other negative side effects.
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Frequently asked questions
Deep sleep therapy (DST) is a discredited practice that involves using narcotic drugs to induce a state of deep sleep in patients.
It was claimed by its major proponent, Dr Harry Bailey, that deep sleep therapy could cure depressive illnesses and compulsive behaviour, such as drug and alcohol addiction. It was also used to treat schizophrenia.
The therapy was popularised by Swiss psychiatrist Jakob Klaesi in the 1920s, using a combination of two barbiturates marketed as Somnifen by the pharmaceutical company Roche.
The treatment is considered to be risky and was found to have resulted in harm to patients. Over a dozen patients given deep-sleep therapy at Chelmsford Hospital died while in a coma or shortly after their release. Other patients at Chelmsford claimed they were inflicted with brain damage and paralysis as a result of the treatment.
Deep sleep therapy was practised into the 1970s but has since been discredited. It was rescinded in June 2023.
