In the Sleep Room

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the director of Montreal's Allen Memorial Institute, Dr. Ewen Cameron, exposed his patients to treatment methods now considered barbaric. Attempting to wipe brains clean of "undesirable" behavior and reprogram new behavior, he kept patients in chemical sleep for weeks and months at a time, while they listened to tape recorded messages that repeated endlessly. Furthermore, he exposed them to massive amounts of electroshock that resulted in brain damage in some recipients."In the Sleep Room: The Story of the CIA Brainwashing Experiments in Canada," by Anne Collins, details some of the stories of Dr. Cameron's patients and how, more recently, they sued the CIA because it partially funded his work. Cameron's work in "psychic driving" (the term he used to call his process) caught the interest of the CIA and it secretly funded the program for a few years. However, Cameron continued his work after this funding stopped. Because it was the CIA that provided some of the money for these experiments, it caused a stir in Canada, regardless of the fact that the Canadian government funded Cameron before, during, and after the CIA chipped in."In the Sleep Room" provided a sketch of who Ewen Cameron was and what his ambitions were. I did not find the book overly critical of Cameron or Psychiatry. Historical background was provided on Cameron's treatments, and overall, the book was balanced. This book provides a good starting point for those interested in learning about Dr. Cameron and his infamous treatments. It is also attractive reading for those interested in gaining some insight into the events that placed attention on the ethics of treatments and higher concern for the consent of treatment.