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3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Sleep Room: A Sadistic Psychiatrist and the Women Who Survived Him

The Sleep Room: A Sadistic Psychiatrist and the Women Who Survived Him

Hardcover

Biographies GeneralHistorical FiguresTrue Crime

Publisher Price: $30.00

ISBN10: 1419774476
ISBN13: 9781419774478
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Published: Jul 22 2025
Pages: 432
Weight: 1.30
Height: 1.42 Width: 6.35 Depth: 9.12
Language: English

A chilling true story of medical abuse, psychological manipulation, and the women who refused to be silenced.

In the heart of postwar London, Dr. William Sargant was a revered psychiatrist with a glittering résumé. He was also a regular lecturer in the United States, where he was a visiting professor at Duke University and had close connections with the CIA.

But behind the doors of Ward Five at the Royal Waterloo Hospital, he orchestrated one of the most disturbing chapters in modern psychiatric history.

Known as the Sleep Room, this ward became the site of relentless experimentation. Women--many young, vulnerable, and without consent--were subjected to months of chemically induced sleep, interrupted only for electroconvulsive therapy and forced feedings. Their identities blurred, their memories fractured, and their lives forever altered.

Now, decades later, the survivors are speaking out. In this gripping investigation, journalist and novelist Jon Stock uncovers the dark legacy of Sargant's methods, the institutional complicity that enabled them, and the haunting question: Were these women victims of rogue science--or pawns in a broader, state-sanctioned agenda?

The Sleep Room is a powerful blend of investigative journalism and survivor testimony, exposing the twisted intersection of medicine, power, and secrecy.

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