The Sleep Room

The Royal Waterloo Hospital, London in the 1960s. Six young women lie asleep on low beds. Day and night no longer exist, extinguished by a potent cocktail of antipsychotic, sedative and anti-depressant drugs. The women are taken from their beds by the nurses and given electroconvulsive therapy before being put to sleep again.

The Sleep Room is a chilling exposé of Dr William Sargant's bizarre psychiatric treatments that were inflicted on hundreds of women with mental illness. At the story's centre is a sinister and charismatic doctor, who was a hugely influential figure in post-war British society.

But since then, women treated without their consent and with often horrific side-effects lasting decades have been campaigning to tell the truth about Sargant. Author Jon Stock tells these women's stories as well delving into the murky history of Sargant's links with the CIA and M15.