[Perspectives] Disturbed sleep
A decade ago the psychologist and thriller writer Frank Tallis published The Sleep Room, a disturbing tale of a monomaniacal psychiatrist who subjected female patients to months of high dose sedatives, a bedbound existence, and unchecked experimentation. It is easy to miss a footnote in the novel which explains that the book's protagonist, Dr Hugh Maitland, is based on the British psychiatrist William Sargant (1907–88), whose personality and medical practice offered “a near perfect model” for Tallis' villain.
A decade ago the psychologist and thriller writer Frank Tallis published The Sleep Room, a disturbing tale of a monomaniacal psychiatrist who subjected female patients to months of high dose sedatives, a bedbound existence, and unchecked experimentation. It is easy to miss a footnote in the novel which explains that the book's protagonist, Dr Hugh Maitland, is based on the British psychiatrist William Sargant (1907–88), whose personality and medical practice offered “a near perfect model” for Tallis' villain.
