ABSTRACT
On the wards things were different. Staff, and in particular psychiatrists, knew better than their patients did what was good for them. This seemed reasonable for those who had committed terrible crimes and were in locked wards and on powerful drugs, later called chemical straitjackets. But for those patients who were depressed and for whom there was no easy relief through medication, the only treatment on offer was ECT (electro-convulsive therapy), and this seemed unreasonable. In the hospital, twice a week, up to 100 patients were given ECT.
