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The truth about Chelmsford Hospital: Why this place has become a dark symbol for psychotherapy
A scandal that shocked the medical community once occurred at Chelmsford Private Hospital in New South Wales, Australia. The "deep sleep therapy" (DST) here is considered a dark symbol in psychotherapy. During the 1960s and 1970s, 25 patients died at the hospital from the treatment, tragedies that raised widespread questions about disease prevention and treatment methods.
Deep sleep therapy, or continuous anaesthesia therapy, uses drugs to render patients unconscious for days or weeks and has been criticised as excessively dangerous and without scientific basis.
The history of this treatment dates back to the early 20th century, when Scottish psychiatrist Neil MacLeod first tried to use sodium bromide to induce sleep in patients, although this method was abandoned shortly afterwards. In addition, Italian psychiatrist Giuseppe Epifanio also tried hypnotic therapy with barbiturates in 1915, but its effectiveness was not taken seriously. In the 1920s, Swiss psychiatrist Jacob Clécy popularized the therapy and used it to treat schizophrenia.
But the procedure, which was carried out at a private hospital in Chelmsford, has caused significant damage to the medical community. Doctor Harry Bailey performed the controversial treatment between 1962 and 1979, combining it with electroconvulsive therapy, which resulted in several deaths at the hospital.
According to reports, many patients did not wake up safely after receiving treatment, and the hospital's diagnosis and treatment process was full of opacity and misconduct.
As the incident came to light, the scandal at Chelmsford Hospital gradually attracted public attention. These cases were reported by the Sydney Morning Herald in the early 1980s, leading to the Chelmsford Royal Commission. Since then, many victims and their families have come forward to report and expose the hospital's dark past.
In his patient recollections, Tony Lamond describes his experience as a hospital patient in 1970. She recalled arriving at the hospital and seeing rows of beds with patients sleeping soundly in them, which was chilling. But when she woke up, ten days had passed, and the experiences during this period seemed to be completely erased.
Her helplessness and fear make people wonder whether this therapy can be regarded as a real treatment for mental illness?
In 2011, following renewed media coverage, the New South Wales Department of Health announced that a combination of long-term sedative drugs and electroconvulsive therapy could be safely explored for patients in certain special circumstances. But the announcement failed to allay public panic over past events.
Also, in 2017, several doctors linked to the Chelmsford scandal filed a defamation lawsuit against author Steve Cannon for referring to Chelmsford Hospital's shady past and its links to the Church of Scientology in his book. However, the court ultimately ruled that their claims had truth, and the doctors’ actions were once again called into question.
The tragic voice and reflection of Chelmsford tell us that the progress of medicine depends on the emphasis and adherence to ethics. However, the lessons of the past have not completely disappeared. As medical policies continue to evolve, can we still trust the current psychotherapy system and avoid repeating the same mistakes?
