Latest news with #survivorstories
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Book Review: 'The Sleep Room' is the harrowing story of psychiatric care in the 1960s
Book Review: 'The Sleep Room' is the harrowing story of psychiatric care in the 1960s This image released by Abrams Books shows "The Sleep Room" by Jon Stock. (Abrams Books via AP) In the 1960s, a hospital in London held a ward full of women who suffered from a range of mental disorders. The women in this 'sleep room' were subjected to various medical procedures, including electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, and, at times, a lobotomy, without their consent. In "The Sleep Room: A Sadistic Psychiatrist and the Women Who Survived Him,' Jon Stock tells the harrowing history of the British doctor who subjected them to medical abuse and gives voice to those who survived him. With interwoven firsthand testimony from surviving patients and rigorous research, Stock provides a haunting account of what the psychiatrist did to his patients without their knowledge. Throughout the book Stock also works to hold the medical establishment accountable for the neglect that occurred, but at times can simplify the complexities of psychiatric care during the '60s that most likely led to the abuse endured by many patients. ADVERTISEMENT While the switching between patient stories, history and research can create some confusion for the reader, the patient testimonies allows Stock to deliver an emotionally powerful narrative that is equally as disturbing. Written with nuance and tact, the 'The Sleep Room' is a chilling exposé into psychiatric care that will resonate deeply readers and, especially, true crime fans. ___ AP book reviews:
Associated Press
22-07-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Book Review: 'The Sleep Room' is the harrowing story of psychiatric care in the 1960s
In the 1960s, a hospital in London held a ward full of women who suffered from a range of mental disorders. The women in this 'sleep room' were subjected to various medical procedures, including electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, and, at times, a lobotomy, without their consent. In 'The Sleep Room: A Sadistic Psychiatrist and the Women Who Survived Him,' Jon Stock tells the harrowing history of the British doctor who subjected them to medical abuse and gives voice to those who survived him. With interwoven firsthand testimony from surviving patients and rigorous research, Stock provides a haunting account of what the psychiatrist did to his patients without their knowledge. Throughout the book Stock also works to hold the medical establishment accountable for the neglect that occurred, but at times can simplify the complexities of psychiatric care during the '60s that most likely led to the abuse endured by many patients. While the switching between patient stories, history and research can create some confusion for the reader, the patient testimonies allows Stock to deliver an emotionally powerful narrative that is equally as disturbing. Written with nuance and tact, the 'The Sleep Room' is a chilling exposé into psychiatric care that will resonate deeply readers and, especially, true crime fans. ___ AP book reviews:
NHK
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NHK
Film looks at quake-hit Noto communities
Noted Japanese theater director Miyamoto Amon's experience volunteering for earthquake recovery in Noto, central Japan, inspires a movie based on survivor stories.
The Independent
30-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Survivors open up about ‘scary' times they were spiked as new data reveals more than one in 10 adults have been victims
Drink spiking survivors have opened up about their terrifying experiences from collapsing to losing control of their body as new figures reveal more than one in 10 Britons are victims. Mark Ackred, 47, said he was spiked when he was attending a family festival in the summer of 2021 while looking after his daughter and son, who were 11 and seven at the time. The 47-year-old, from the Cotswolds, said he sipped from a glass at a wine tasting event, which was his first alcoholic drink of the day, and within minutes he felt faint. He said he then stumbled out of the tent, before collapsing and being 'out of it' and unable to remember anything for seven hours. 'I felt weird, then really bad,' he told The Independent, describing how his head was lolling and he was incoherent. 'I went home, and felt horrific for the next two days. 'For my children, it was really scary. I was the parent in charge.' It was his daughter, now 15, who had to rush to get help at the time. Mr Ackred said the incident has had a lasting impact on both her and his son, now 12, with both now more hesitant about going out. He is opening up about his experience as new data reveals that spiking, and concerns about being spiked, is reaching critical levels in the UK. CounterSpike 's survey of 3,000 UK adults in June found that 6.6 million (12 per cent) of Britons have been spiked during their lifetime, and a further 11.7 million (22 per cent) know someone who has been. The research comes after the government pledged to introduce a specific offence to cover spiking, aiming to make it easier to prosecute those who administer harmful substances without consent. The new offence has been created under the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently moving through its final stages in parliament. Couple Sara and Stephen Ridgewell have also spoken about the terrifying time they were spiked while at a former colleague's engagement party in February 2023. They said they had three or four drinks during the time they all travelled to the venue on a minibus and for one-and-a-half hours once they had arrived, which included Prosecco from a bottle that only they drank from. After that, they said they cannot remember much at all for hours. Ms Ridgewell, 43, said: 'We were both very scared and shocked this could happen. We were out as a couple with people we knew, and assumed we were in a safe environment where we could relax.' The couple said they woke up in a budget hotel, with no recollection of how they had got there. Piecing together the few vague memories they had of the night, they said they discovered Mr Ridgewell, 46, had wet himself, which had never happened before, and also cut his head after falling over. The 46-year-old said: 'It's such a scary thing – I've been out a million times for drinks with friends – something happens where you don't know where you've been. I wasn't in control of my body. It was such a worrying experience to have gone through. Afterwards, piecing together what could have happened, it's the what could've happened that's really scary.' The couple said they spent the days after the incident feeling awful and have become hypervigilant since. They advised others to always be aware of their surroundings and to never take their eyes off their drink, with anyone a potential target of perpetrators. Mr Ackred set up CounterSpike in the wake of what happened to him. The company has now developed a spiking test kit, SpikeStixx, and also teamed up with charity Spike Aware UK to draw awareness to the dangers of spiking. Nearly half of all adults (44 per cent) are worried about being spiked on a night out, according to the new data, the majority of whom are women. Aimee Glass, an 18-year-old student from Suffolk, told The Independent last year that she was spiked during freshers week in September. She said she started feeling unwell after having two drinks at the pub and another two drinks at a club. 'I had a wave of heat and sickness,' she said. 'It was unlike anything I had experienced before. It was like no illness I had felt being drunk or sober. I was really scared because I was so unsure of what was happening. I couldn't feel my limbs properly or speak properly. To my friends, I described the last moments of my vision as being like kaleidoscope vision and then my vision became very blurred.' Ms Glass said she completely lost her vision within half an hour of feeling unwell – adding that she was unable to both walk or talk, not speaking for seven hours after being spiked. Speaking of the spiking 'epidemic' in the UK, Mr Ackred said: 'It's become so problematic. I feel there's a lot of discussion and we need more solutions.'
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE My sick father started raping me when I was nine and told me he was 'preparing me for marriage'. When I confessed to my little sister at 14, I learnt of horrors I could never have imagined
Two sisters have revealed their childhood agony after their sick father repeatedly raped them both, telling them he was helping them 'prepare to be good wives'. Taylor-Rae Eason, 22, and her sister Chloe, 20, were subject to a horrific campaign of sexual abuse from Mark Jones, who was jailed in April for 24 years. After carrying out depraved assaults on his daughters, Jones would tell them the abuse was 'just a way of life' for girls - and offered them measly cash incentives to keep quiet. Now safe in the knowledge her father is behind bars and now a parent herself, Taylor, from South Wales, has opened up about the horrific ways in which Jones inflicted his cruel campaign upon his children. 'Growing up, Dad was my world,' she said. 'I loved him so much before he unleashed hell on me and my sister. He'd take us to the cinema or for picnics. He was a great dad.' Jones and the girls' mother split up when they were children, but the sisters still spent every weekend at their beloved father's house. But Taylor's image of her doting dad was shattered when she turned nine and he began to prey upon her. One day, he sent Chloe, then seven, to the park next to his house with a friend. 'While we watched TV in the living room Dad suddenly began tickling me all over,' Taylor recounted. 'Out of nowhere he grabbed my privates and told me I was "beautiful". 'I was so confused and wondered if it was what dads did.' The following weekend, Jones sent Chloe to the park again. When Taylor mentioned she needed some money for summer clothes, he told her: 'If you play a game with me, I'll give you some'. 'I figured he meant a game of chess,' she continued. 'But he had something else in mind. 'Moments later, he pulled down his trousers and boxers. Walking up to me, I froze as he pressed his privates into me. 'I told him I didn't want to but he said that "this is what dads do to daughters to get them ready for their husbands". Though it felt wrong, I trusted him.' Before long, the sexual abuse became routine for Taylor, who was also forced to touch her abuser. Taylor recounted one instance where she was painfully assaulted - and could do nothing but wait for the horror to end. 'He undressed me and pushed his fingers inside me. I told him it hurt but he carried on without a word,' she explained. 'He didn't care I was in pain. So, I looked up at the white swirls on the ceiling. Gritted my teeth until he was finished.' As Taylor lived out a nightmare at the hands of her abuser, she had no idea that he was also preying upon Chloe too. 'Whenever Chloe was in bed asleep, or downstairs playing, he'd pounce,' Taylor revealed. Even forced me to sleep next to him in his pull-out bed in our room.' The constant assaults began to affect Taylor's education as she started playing truant. 'I hated going to Dad's, but with Mum working long hours as a carer, I had no choice,' she added. In 2017 when Taylor was 14 years old, a sex education class confirmed her worst fears - that she was being abused by her father. That night, she confided in Chloe. 'When I told her weird stuff was happening in Dad's bedroom, she started to cry,' Taylor recalled. 'When she admitted he was hurting her sexually, too, I was horrified.' Chloe went on to tell her sister how her dad had started abusing her when she was six. Together, they devised a plan to tell their mother and confront Jones. However, when the sisters warned their father they were going to speak up about the abuse, they were left frightened. 'He flew into a rage, claimed no one would believe us. Terrified, we kept quiet,' Taylor said. That day the girls bought cannabis and smoked it for the first time. Jones used this as a way to continue abusing his daughters. 'Weeks later, after running out of drugs, I went to his,' she recounted. 'He said he'd buy me more but I had to do something for him first. 'I laid down on the bed and he climbed on top of me, forcing himself inside me. All I could do was stare at the ceiling as he raped me.' Afterwards, Jones handed Taylor £60. For the next two years, he continued to use his daughters and offered them cash in exchange for silence. In 2017, he took the girls on a holiday to Wales, which they 'reluctantly' agreed to as long as they could bring some friends. 'One evening, with everyone else at the arcades, Dad made me stay behind in the chalet,' Taylor explained. 'Offered me £40 spending money while he undid his trousers. 'I knew what he meant and he raped me again.' It wasn't until April 2020 that the truth emerged, after Chloe confessed everything to their mother - with Taylor finally admitting she was a victim too. 'Mum was beside herself,' the older sister said. 'Said it was her fault, but she wasn't to know.' The following week they reported Jones to the police and gave their statements - he denied the charges. In August 2021, Taylor fell pregnant - which she says 'saved her'. 'When my son was born, he was my reason to keep going,' she admitted. Due to Covid-19 delays the sisters had to endure a five-year wait before the case went to court - but in November 2024, the sisters bravely took turns giving evidence via video link. In April of this year, at Cardiff Crown Court, Jones, 65, from Barry, was found guilty of two counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault against Taylor. He was convicted of three counts of rape and one of attempted rape, as well as five counts of assault by penetration and four of causing a child to engage in sexual activity against Chloe. 'When the guilty verdict was in, Chloe called to deliver it,' she recalled. 'We were so emotional, having justice after so long. 'Dad was supposed to keep me and my sister safe. Instead, he hurt us in the sickest way. 'Now that he's been jailed we finally have justice. Knowing he'll die behind bars gives me some comfort. 'I want other survivors to know it's never too late for justice.'
