Speaker 1: M The Control group contains scenes of realistic violence and
Speaker 1: graphic sexuality. It is intended for mature listeners. In the
Speaker 1: field of psychiatric medicine, it was an exciting time, a
Speaker 1: time of innovation and discovery, a time when mental health
Speaker 1: institutions struggled to redefine themselves, to become something more than
Speaker 1: repositories of the sick. Unorthodox methods and aggressive therapies were
Speaker 1: not only permitted, but encouraged. Secret This is a record
Speaker 1: of that time. This is the Control group. Hello, Hello, Hey,
Speaker 1: in summer home, just touching base, making sure got the
Speaker 1: equipment you requisitioned. Yes, thank you. We're functionated on right now. Well,
Speaker 1: let's stay in touch. I'll be near New Cane in
Speaker 1: the first of the year, hoping you might have something
Speaker 1: to show me. No, I will, I've been too delicate.
Speaker 1: I see that. Now. I'm taking a more aggressive approach
Speaker 1: to some of the cases, one in particular, a lapmouse.
Speaker 1: You sound hungry, appetite. It has never been stronger. Are
Speaker 1: we talking about the forensic the prostitute? You mean Karen,
Speaker 1: the keeper of secrets. She's a bit more resistant to
Speaker 1: my therapies. But I'm breaking through. I'm tired of waiting.
Speaker 1: I've increased the e c T schedule, aggressive sleep and
Speaker 1: psychic driving schedules NonStop for almost twelve weeks. Safe. It's
Speaker 1: no good cracking open the head if in the process
Speaker 1: you damage the content. No, no, no, no, that's fine.
Speaker 1: I got an interview schedule for this afternoon. What's the hurry.
Speaker 1: I've got an objective now, she revealed to me, or
Speaker 1: I swaite at her to reveal that there was an
Speaker 1: accomplice with her at the Dixie Motel. That's a fact.
Speaker 1: What's the person's name? I don't know. She won't budge
Speaker 1: on the details. Get us a name. Start with that.
Speaker 1: It'll be a good measure of your progress. But if
Speaker 1: you hold that a little longer, do the detective work.
Speaker 1: Connect the dots. I'll try, but I can help wondering
Speaker 1: whether or not we should be I'll stop thinking about
Speaker 1: should should He's a dirty word in research. Take yourself
Speaker 1: off the leash, doctors. Allow yourself to run. You have
Speaker 1: a hunch, follow it, got an inch, scratch it and urge.
Speaker 1: Indulge it, and don't stop to ask whether it's something
Speaker 1: you should be doing. If it gives you a better
Speaker 1: understanding that's all that matters. You're thinking about something. Am
Speaker 1: I right? You're not wrong, and I don't want to
Speaker 1: know what that is. I just know that, based on
Speaker 1: what we've seen of your work so far, you need
Speaker 1: to follow whatever it is wherever it leads. For reasons
Speaker 1: you can't explain. You feel like it might unlock something.
Speaker 1: Don't try to explain, don't justify it. Do it, learn
Speaker 1: from it. I'm hearing you, Summer Hill. It's just taking
Speaker 1: me a moment to digest all this. Use medicine to
Speaker 1: solve a crime, a murder. Think of it. It's the
Speaker 1: greatest advancement in crime detections and sodium pentathol or fingerprints.
Speaker 1: You get an unwilling subject to cooperate without force, without torture,
Speaker 1: to tell the truth. My god, Hayes. Think of that,
Speaker 1: the power of truth and end de lies and deception. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you could go all the way absolute knowledge. You're almost there, Hayes.
Speaker 1: Don't lose your nerve. Feel documented, every word, every detail.
Speaker 1: Don't worry good Man, Hayes, good Man. If I am
Speaker 1: ever to get better again, I must cooperate with Dr Hayes.
Speaker 1: I can trust Dr Hayes only when I'm absolutely healthy again,
Speaker 1: will I be released? And only by fully cooperating with
Speaker 1: Dr Hayes, Can I ever hope to become well again?
Speaker 1: I have no secrets. There is nothing I can't tell
Speaker 1: Dr Hayes. If I am ever to get better again,
Speaker 1: I must cooperate with Dr Hayes. I can trust Dr Hayes.
Speaker 1: Only when I'm absolutely healthy again, will I be released.
Speaker 1: And only by fully cooperating with Doctor Hayes, can I
Speaker 1: ever hope I have secrets? This is Karen Meyers. She's
Speaker 1: doctor Hayes special patient. The first thing you want to
Speaker 1: do is to check the chart and see when she's
Speaker 1: do to be dosed and fit. I can trust Docthor Hayes.
Speaker 1: H only always check her heart rate and blood pressure
Speaker 1: doctores every time, every time, and make sure you log it. Yeah. Great,
Speaker 1: there's doctor Karen. Okay, Monday, Tuesday, the third heron Friday
Speaker 1: the six trust Doctores? Is this right? Has she really
Speaker 1: been asleep this long? How are we doing? Karen? Dotores?
Speaker 1: Do you think you could eat something? Thanks? That's a
Speaker 1: good girl. Just take it slower. We have some nice
Speaker 1: warm cereal for you. M hm h it's early chest.
Speaker 1: Have a bite at this. What do you get one
Speaker 1: hundred of our sevent days low? That's where should she
Speaker 1: noted on the chart? Yea? If there's no change, that
Speaker 1: just put his check marks. Why is it dark ever?
Speaker 1: To have another bite? There you go, it's dark to
Speaker 1: help you sleep, so you can rest messager cast and
Speaker 1: check her heels for bed sores? Yeah? No, knees? Hey,
Speaker 1: I can't move my arms? Secret? Where are they desired?
Speaker 1: Where are they ties? You just full of questions today,
Speaker 1: aren't you? Karen? Open? That's it. You just don't want
Speaker 1: you to roll out of bed when you sleep, so
Speaker 1: we're using the restraints. Would you like a sip of
Speaker 1: waters her? How some of this? Yeah, that's a girl.
Speaker 1: Can you eat another bite? No, that's fine if you
Speaker 1: don't want to do this in koll story? Do what
Speaker 1: by down on this? But I can trust? No? No? Please?
Speaker 1: Does any a minute? Just let me just let me wait.
Speaker 1: You know you'll go right back to school. Figure out
Speaker 1: set o. Why isn't she convulsing the phena barbital? Her
Speaker 1: body is so medicated that it it just doesn't react
Speaker 1: the effects of the electro shop all remain inside her head.
Speaker 1: Did you mark the time? Yes? Ma'am, settle her headphones
Speaker 1: and we'll be done. How long can she sleep like that?
Speaker 1: As long as Dr Hayes wants her tooth? Doctor? I
Speaker 1: could trust dryly when I'm absolutely only again m hmm.
Speaker 1: And only by fully co operating with Doctor Hayes can
Speaker 1: I ever hope to become well again. I have no secrets.
Speaker 1: There's nothing I cannot tell Dr Hayes. If I am
Speaker 1: ever to get better again, I must cooperate with Dr Hayes.
Speaker 1: I can trust Dr Hayes. Only when I'm absolutely healthy
Speaker 1: again will I be released. And only by fully cooperating
Speaker 1: with Dr Hayes can I ever hope to become well again.
Speaker 1: I have no secrets, Yes, just checking in before I
Speaker 1: clock out that Gloria said she's getting the hang of it,
Speaker 1: she'll work out fine, and I'm Karen, what is it?
Speaker 1: Vir Tree? Doctor? I know it's not my role to
Speaker 1: second guess your methods of treatment, especially with something that
Speaker 1: is so ambitious, but I have to wonder if keeping
Speaker 1: a patient asleep for so long it's not four days?
Speaker 1: Are you aware of that? I have to wonder if
Speaker 1: keeping a patient unconscious for thirty four days only waking
Speaker 1: her up long enough to feed her, shock her and
Speaker 1: send her back to sleep again. Is well, it's not
Speaker 1: entirely humane. HM. You're absolutely right, Virtue. It's not your
Speaker 1: role to question my methods of treatment. It is your
Speaker 1: role to see that the treatments I prescribe or carried
Speaker 1: out exactly as instructed. This is a time of great
Speaker 1: opportunity for us. I can't allow anything to happen to
Speaker 1: derail it. Opportunity for whom doctor or state hospital. But
Speaker 1: more than that, for modern mess. Advancements are being made
Speaker 1: every day, and we have an opportunity to be a
Speaker 1: part of it. It's like an age of exploration discovery
Speaker 1: Christopher Columbus the Mayflower. It's happening now, explorers or colonists
Speaker 1: as I supposed to be. Nobody's trying to call on
Speaker 1: on you've seen intent on staking a claim. But whose
Speaker 1: flag are you carrying? I see your point, No, I'm asking.
Speaker 1: I know you may not approve of some of my methods,
Speaker 1: very I always have until now, I trust that your
Speaker 1: opinions on interfere with your performance on the ward. Dr
Speaker 1: Hayes miracle treatments have come and gone. This hospital has
Speaker 1: seen more ages of discovery than I care to count.
Speaker 1: Patients having their entire sets of teeth pulled, confined to
Speaker 1: their necks in water tanks, having their brain tissue scrambled
Speaker 1: insulin shock clor promising straight jackets. It wasn't so long
Speaker 1: ago that we used the cages. Don't call them, it's
Speaker 1: what they are. What should I call them? It's what
Speaker 1: everyone on staff called them, except on paper. On paper,
Speaker 1: it's I and C isolation and confinement. Sometimes I go
Speaker 1: down to the basement and look at them. They're still there.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm well aware of that. In all my
Speaker 1: time here, I've understood that it was my job to
Speaker 1: just do my job, Okay, not to second guess the
Speaker 1: methods of the men in charge good because it's essential
Speaker 1: that we have Even when I was certain that we
Speaker 1: were doing nothing more than inflicting physical harm on the patients,
Speaker 1: we'd never knowingly harmed any of our trying to erase
Speaker 1: their symptoms with drugs and shock and surgery rather than
Speaker 1: trying to isolate the cause. That's your job, My job,
Speaker 1: My job to oversee the efficient and orderly operation of
Speaker 1: this ward. That's what I've always done and that's what
Speaker 1: I'll continue to do. Is that what you think I'm
Speaker 1: doing inflicting harm. To be honest, I don't understand what
Speaker 1: you're doing, and that's what frightens me the most. Oh,
Speaker 1: if there's nothing more, I'll say good night, er Tree.
Speaker 1: Who's the night nurse, Debbie? Do you mine asking her
Speaker 1: to take Karen off the pheno barb around four am?
Speaker 1: Let her come out of it. Then when you get
Speaker 1: in we'll have a look at her. Bring her into
Speaker 1: my office for an interview to make sure she's wonderful.
Speaker 1: I'll see to it right away and virtue Yes, Dr,
Speaker 1: thank you, brust. Dr Hayes. This is patient Karen Myers,
Speaker 1: October interview six, after thirty four days in the sleep room. Doctor,
Speaker 1: patient is not a sodium amatoor drip. This should place
Speaker 1: the patient in a semi lucid state susceptible to hypnotic suggestion. Also,
Speaker 1: president is ward head nurse Ergery Bilburn. I must collaborate
Speaker 1: with Dr. That's it. Just sit her up in the chair.
Speaker 1: I can trust doctor. I just want to make sure
Speaker 1: she doesn't lean over and pull the ivy out. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: help go ahead and kill the driving take and only
Speaker 1: by fully coor are you with me? Karen Karen, Karen, Karen, there,
Speaker 1: we are wonderful. Thank you, Verdrey. I'll call you a
Speaker 1: fine nature. Perhaps I should sit in and observe. I
Speaker 1: could take notes. Mhm, very well, I'll be outside. Just relax, Karen.
Speaker 1: I want you to take a little journey. I want
Speaker 1: you to take me with you. Can you do that
Speaker 1: for me? I want you to go back to the
Speaker 1: Dixie Hotel the night you were arrested, Room five seventeen twelve.
Speaker 1: Was that twelve? Five twelve? Always? Yes? Yet five twelve.
Speaker 1: I want you to be there right now, just as
Speaker 1: you were that night. I want you to remember where
Speaker 1: you were, what you were doing, who you were with.
Speaker 1: But I'm not there. I'm here her. I'll keep your
Speaker 1: eyes closed. Remember you're in room five twelve, the room
Speaker 1: with bed, and you're with the man. Which one the
Speaker 1: one you were with that night? More than one? More
Speaker 1: than one? Right? Well, I'm sure he was the last one.
Speaker 1: I believe his name was Ronald Ronald Grant. Is that
Speaker 1: the name he gave you? Ronnie? No last name? Right?
Speaker 1: You brought Ronnie up to the room, didn't you? Yes?
Speaker 1: Why did you bring him to the room? He wanted
Speaker 1: to he wanted to what he wanted to come up
Speaker 1: to my room. Was there anyone else in the room
Speaker 1: with you? No? No, because I was under the impression
Speaker 1: you had a partner, maybe something like a scoured or pimp.
Speaker 1: What the man behind all this? The one who arranged
Speaker 1: for you to bring Ronald up there, the one who
Speaker 1: pushed Ronnie out the window. You know who I mean? Oh? Him? Yes? Him?
Speaker 1: Tell me about him? What is his name, Karen? I
Speaker 1: can't tell you, why not, I'm not allowed. But you
Speaker 1: do know his name? Did he ask you not to
Speaker 1: tell I'm not allowed to speak his name. He made
Speaker 1: that very clear. Well, if you can't tell me his name,
Speaker 1: perhaps you can tell me something else about him. For instance,
Speaker 1: what does he do do? That's right, he doesn't do anything.
Speaker 1: He just watches me, watches you, watches me when I
Speaker 1: with men, watches me to make sure I do what
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to do with men in room five twelve,
Speaker 1: always room five. So the night you move with Ronald,
Speaker 1: this other man, was he in the room with you? No?
Speaker 1: He came in later. No, this this person watches over you.
Speaker 1: You make it sound like he's uh is even real?
Speaker 1: What is it? Some defense mechanism? You're projecting, so you
Speaker 1: don't have to. I don't understand when he's there with you?
Speaker 1: Do you see him or is he invisible? He prefers
Speaker 1: not to be seen. I understand, but he's there. I'm
Speaker 1: sure he's there to protect you. He protects me, he
Speaker 1: controls you. Is he omniscient? I don't know what you mean.
Speaker 1: Does he know everything? Does he have absolute knowledge? Seems to?
Speaker 1: Is he omnipotent? Does he have absolute power? He seems to.
Speaker 1: Does he have a name? Yes? Good? What is it
Speaker 1: forbidden to speak? Have you seen his face? Yes? You've
Speaker 1: spoken to it, yes, and he's spoken back, of course.
Speaker 1: And what does he tell you? He tells me what
Speaker 1: to do, which is what I can't tell you. For
Speaker 1: christ say, why can't you tell me? He made it
Speaker 1: very clear it isn't to be known. I'm not to
Speaker 1: talk about it with anyone very well, then I won't
Speaker 1: ask you to talk about it. But if you can't
Speaker 1: tell me, could you show me? M Karen? Can you
Speaker 1: show me what it is that? What he wants you
Speaker 1: to do with the men in room five? Lots of things,
Speaker 1: just one thing, the most important thing. Oh, for the record,
Speaker 1: patient is has raised her forefinger and is uh indicating
Speaker 1: her open mouth. You may lower your Handcaren. That's fine.
Speaker 1: Good morning, ladies. Today is a very special day. One
Speaker 1: of our patients is graduating and we'll be departing from
Speaker 1: our little club. Please join myself, Dr Hayes and the
Speaker 1: entire staff and wishing Charlotte the very best of luck
Speaker 1: and the happiest future back home with her husband. It's Tuesday,
Speaker 1: January eight, and it's going to be a glorious day.
Speaker 1: It's so exciting to come on, ladies, let's give her
Speaker 1: a little space. I know we're all excited. Will you
Speaker 1: write you if it's not too much to let me
Speaker 1: have a word with her? Is you please please write
Speaker 1: me a postpord I love you, dear, Thank you. By
Speaker 1: Now it's time, Charlotte. Are you excited? I'm ling You're
Speaker 1: going to be fine, Charlotte. Your husband is here. Bert's here. Yes,
Speaker 1: he's talking with Dr Hayes right now. I'll carry your
Speaker 1: release and walk you down. It's good to see you again, Bert.
Speaker 1: Any problems, any questions, don't hesitate to call. I will
Speaker 1: thank you day or not here, Yes, sir, give her
Speaker 1: some time to settle in. Try not to rush her
Speaker 1: into being who she was. Spending two years and these
Speaker 1: walls does change a person. But I assure you she
Speaker 1: is still your Charlotte. It's just gonna take her a
Speaker 1: little while to become that person again. But it'll all
Speaker 1: come to the familiarity, the affection, I promise. I can't
Speaker 1: thank you enough, doctor, for everything you've done. I think
Speaker 1: nothing of it. Seeing a patient return homes the greatest
Speaker 1: reward I can have. Good a start, patient all packed up,
Speaker 1: I'm ready to go. Hello. It's not gonna be easy
Speaker 1: for us seeing you leave, is it? That's true? Doctor,
Speaker 1: I'm not going far, am I No, just across town,
Speaker 1: and since this is New Canaan, you'll never be very
Speaker 1: far away. I'm sure we'll see each other in town,
Speaker 1: bump into one another at the supermarket. Won't that be funny. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're all very proud of your should You're going to
Speaker 1: be fine. Bye, Charlotte, be well, God bless you, Charlotte.
Speaker 1: Good bye. M M. Well let's let's go the older up. Okay,
Speaker 1: mhm's car's arms great one, bring one down. I don't
Speaker 1: remember it. You never see it, isn't it. It's a
Speaker 1: couple of years old, who do you. I guess I
Speaker 1: missed so much. We've got a lot of catch enough
Speaker 1: to do, but we have all the time in the world.
Speaker 1: Show what is it scared. We're almost there. When we
Speaker 1: get home, you can relax and do whatever you want
Speaker 1: to do. I turned the baby's room into a sewing room.
Speaker 1: Fix it up, real nice. You're gonna like it. Come on,
Speaker 1: that's it. You can do it or almost to the gates.
Speaker 1: But I can't, Charlotte, sweetie, just a little further. All right,
Speaker 1: you can deal with it. There's there's not a thing
Speaker 1: in the world to be afraid of. I'll take good
Speaker 1: care of your baby. No, no, no, no, no, I
Speaker 1: can't go up. I can't go Okay, okay, Charlotte. Hey,
Speaker 1: you've got to get caught. You have to come on now.
Speaker 1: No more games. No, I can't. You can't. No, Charlotte, honey,
Speaker 1: everyone's looking at you. They're all at the windows. You
Speaker 1: don't want them to see you like this. Something's wrong.
Speaker 1: She's not ready. Wait, she's walking again. I'm afraid. I
Speaker 1: can only be happy here, Bert, I can only be
Speaker 1: healthy here. What move it now? You're hurting me? No, No,
Speaker 1: getting your ass in the goddamn car I can't do
Speaker 1: it now, or don't call. You don't understand I can't. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Jesus called Graftown Heaven. Go out and get Charlotte. Bring
Speaker 1: it to the e c. T as quickly as possible
Speaker 1: for Thanksgiving worse right away, thanks awesome. Get I'll find out.
Speaker 1: I don't know perfectly. I need a moment. That's it.
Speaker 1: Take her straight in there, glorious, set up everything, go
Speaker 1: one m your attention, please, ladies. It seems that Charlotte
Speaker 1: was not quite ready to leave our little group, so
Speaker 1: she'll be staying with us a little longer. I want
Speaker 1: to ask all of you for a little bit of
Speaker 1: extra kindness today. I want to give Charlotte as much
Speaker 1: privacy as she requires, as much companionship as she desires
Speaker 1: today tomorrow, as long as it takes. I don't I
Speaker 1: don't want to see any tears. I don't want to
Speaker 1: hear the I don't want to hear the words I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: I want to see smiles and hugs and words of welcome,
Speaker 1: because that that's all that Charlotte needs from us right now.
Speaker 1: So that's what we'll give her. Thank you, ber those
Speaker 1: very nice I did it for her, not for you, burgery.
Speaker 1: Let's talk in my office. Yes, of course, can't parrot
Speaker 1: seeing Charlotte fail that way, watching months of work just
Speaker 1: go down the drain. Two years she comes in with
Speaker 1: about a postpartum depression. Now she can't more than about doctor,
Speaker 1: Remember what it was like when she arrived. She had
Speaker 1: lost a child, she had cut her wrists and wasn't eating.
Speaker 1: We should have taken her case more serious. And I
Speaker 1: think I've treated her too much as a staff member
Speaker 1: and stopped looking at her as a patient. It's my fault, really,
Speaker 1: You're exhausted, not just me, all of us, yourself included,
Speaker 1: the e c T schedule, the sleep room, the driving tapes.
Speaker 1: It's too much. It's too much. Don't confuse my fatigue
Speaker 1: with my concern for the well being of these women,
Speaker 1: would vitre. It's no one's fault, really, But the damage
Speaker 1: has been done, the public humiliation we suffered by that
Speaker 1: spectacle she made out there in our humiliation. The only
Speaker 1: person suffering over this is Charlotte. All the same word
Speaker 1: gets out. The damage could be severe, It gets out
Speaker 1: to whom. You know, the opportunities we've been given lately,
Speaker 1: there's no limit to what we can accomplish. But we
Speaker 1: have to earn Our program is under a lot of
Speaker 1: scrutiny right now. Can't afford another embarrassment like that. We'll
Speaker 1: start over. Will they race everything deep pattern her mind,
Speaker 1: wipe her clean and rebuild from the ground up. How
Speaker 1: do you expect to do that without the tools. We
Speaker 1: increase the duration of the sleep cycle. We will increase
Speaker 1: the E C T frequency, play with the intensity. We'll
Speaker 1: make the changes slowly, right considering this stage. For this
Speaker 1: to work, we need to shock her system. We'll start immediately.
Speaker 1: I'll record a psychic driving tape for her myself. No
Speaker 1: more gentle persuasion. Tear her down so we can build
Speaker 1: her up. It was a mistake to try and normalize
Speaker 1: her with thin the hospital. There's no such thing as
Speaker 1: normalcy here. Yeah, she needs to be home, bed room,
Speaker 1: the kitchen, the living room, the places that define in her.
Speaker 1: That's where she needs to regain her sellness of self.
Speaker 1: Not here. We couldn't rid her of her neurosis. Put
Speaker 1: her back in the home. Tabula rassa. Yes, her healthy
Speaker 1: instincts could return naturally. That's it. You might be able
Speaker 1: to salvage this situation. After all, what do you say
Speaker 1: about that? Are you doing this because it's the best
Speaker 1: thing for Charlotte or two keep her from being an
Speaker 1: embarrassment to this. Count on you, Virdree. You can I
Speaker 1: can't do this without your help. You have it. Good good.
Speaker 1: The Control Group is a production of How Stuff Works,
Speaker 1: written and directed by Brett Wood, recorded and mixed by
Speaker 1: Rob Gal m m m m hm hm