Do you remember that? Donald Ewen Cameron was born in Bridge of Allan, Scotland, the oldest son of a Presbyterian minister. Her life was sad. They had 11 children: Allan Francis Cameron, John Donald Cameron and 9 other children. A possessive type, filled with jealousy and demanding utmost loyalty. And then she came back from Montreal and she was never the same. Ben: But do you even though you had nothing to do with it do you have any feelings of sadness about those folks and what they've gone through? In other words, torture. The second part of the technique was inspired by something called the Cerebrophone, which was essentially a "learn-while-you-sleep" recording device. Heres documentarian Stephen Bennett, whose film Eminent Monsters looks at the real echoes of Camerons work in government interrogation programs today. Like, did she always have problems? And he said, Oh, gosh. She goes, No. She was the one that was gonna go and conquer the world. Rauh: --Well, I will put it another way. When it came time to evaluate Nazi leaders ahead of the Nuremberg Trials, he was one of a group of internationally renowned mental health professionals who were sent to decide just what was going on in the heads of some of the worst war criminals the world had ever seen. It is a rare thing that a psychiatrist of his worldwide reputation and capacity should be a resource available to a small mountain community. That right there is getting into some shady territory, but the promise of a $10,000 grant the equivalent of just over $100,000 today had to be pretty tempting. She said she received 12 boxes of her husbands papers after he died, but that, quote, If I had these papers, I wouldnt necessarily let you see them. Agnes was born in 1844, in Richmond Victoria Australia. When then-CIA director Stansfield Turner testified about the program in 1977, he said (via the Smithsonian) that the bottom line was to develop "the use of biological and chemical materials in altering human behavior." The extent of Goldberg's treatment - or mistreatment - while in the care of Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron at the Allan Memorial Institute, would remain an encumbering family secret for years. Care of his patients went to his assistants, and here's where things get even weirder. Indian River. The described types would have to be eliminated from society if there was to be peace and progress. Not all the time, but it's always there. Duncan: Well, that's a big subject. Being compared to the Nazi's most notorious doctor probably isn't the life goal of most medical professionals, so let's look at what he did to deserve this dubious title. Duncan: And I've said Im unable to do that. He began to develop the discipline of social psychiatry which concentrated on the roles of interpersonal interaction, family, community and culture in the emergence and amelioration of emotional disturbance. But he has fond childhood memories of summers spent in New Yorks Adirondack Mountains, where his dads competitive nature led him again and again to the line of the horizon. What Hebb and Cameron both have in common is their contribution in establishing the scientific foundation for CIAs two-stage psychological torture method. And here I am looking much younger than I am now. Any documents that related to patient treatment were destroyed? And that seemed to us to be a highly questionable action for someone to take. The behaviour of a mental patient could resemble the behaviour of a patient with, for example, syphilis, and then a somatic cause could be deduced for a psychological illness. Duncan: He loved hiking. His work had led him to the belief that mental illness could be "cured" like, say, a broken hip might be rehabilitated. At the heart of MKUltra, says The Guardian, was the broadcasting of videos of American POWs from the Korean War condemning their own country and lauding the benefits of Communism. Amory: Duncan struggles dealing with his dads legacy because he cant speak to why his dad did what he did. Our username is. Velma Orlikow, for instance, was dealing with postpartum depression. With the results of the Manhattan project, Cameron feared that without proper re-organization of society, atomic weapons could fall into the hands of new, fearsome aggressors. I think he wanted to be famous. (laughter). Once it was down to an exact science the precise number of hours in a coma, the number and duration of electroshock treatments, the exact dosages of drugs he believed that curing mental illness could be as simple as admitting a patient, putting them through the program, and spitting out a brand new, problem-free person on the other side. Cameron began to develop broader theories of society, new concepts of human relations to replace concepts he deemed dangerous and outdated. Montreal's CTV says that by the time she died in 2011, she had spent the last 20 years of her life as an "infant," unable to allow anyone near her head without a terrible reaction. Particularly because we put that question to him today. Although Cameron rejected the Freudian notion of the unconscious, he shared the Freudian idea that personal psychology is linked to the nervous nature. In compliance with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements, some of these records are no longer in the physical possession of the FBI, eliminating the FBI's capability to re-review and/or re-process this material. Dr. Ewen Cameron wanted to win a Nobel Prize for his work in psychiatry. [citation needed]. Ben: Perhapsthis is Dr. Cameron's most enduring legacy. Amory: Marian was 5 years old when her mom was admitted to the Allan for what she thinks was postpartum depression. Research genealogy for Donald Ewen Cameron of lambeth, as well as other members of the Cameron family, on Ancestry. You can buy the full book for only . The idea was turning the mind into a fresh slate for the next part of the process, called "psychic driving.". He warned that government institutions should take measures against such potential liabilities. Amory: Sarahs grandmother, Val, sued the CIA forty years ago for supporting Dr. Camerons work at the Allan. Hij is getrouwd met (Niet openbaar), ze kregen 1 kind. In 2020, director Stephen Bennett released "Eminent Monsters," a film that examined the link between Cameron's work and the torture techniques used by organizations around the world, including the CIA. Amory: Eventually though, it wasnt just Camerons successor who was calling him out. Cameron stated, "Get it understood how dangerous these damaged, sick personalities are to ourselves and above all, to our children, whose traits are taking form and we shall find ways to put an end to them." 22 As the Watergate scandal broke in 1973, MKUltra was officially ordered to be shut down by the CIA. Donald Ewen Cameron was born in Bridge of Allen, a small town in Scotland, on December 24, 1901. My recollection was that I wasn't able to provide him with much information that he didn't already have. Ontario. Both of her brothers were heavily into drugs by the age of 10 and dealt with serious mental illness throughout their lives. ", "Brainwashing's Avatar: The Curious Career of Dr. Ewen Cameron,". Duncan: He probably did, but I dont think I could remember the specifics of it. The psychological experimentation project, known as MK Ultra, was allegedly funded by the Canadian government and the United States Central Intelligence Agency. That would have been the cultural environment in which people like Sidney Gottlieb grew up. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1924. And I recall going through them and *taking out* several papers that appeared to me to be identified or could be identified as dealing with a particular patient. He died of a heart attack while climbing a mountain in the Adirondacks in 1967. And in that sense, I think his ambition overrode his skills and his ability to do the research. Police, hospitals, government, and schools would need to use the correct psychiatric authority to stop mental contagions from spreading. Through his instruction of nurses and psychiatrists he became an authority in his areas of concentration. His list of credentials was so long it's impossible to list them all, but for starters, his resume included the University of Glasgow and Johns Hopkins, and in the 1930s, he was lauded for setting up a series of psychiatric clinics. In 1933, he married Jean C. Rankine, whom he had met while they were students at the University of Glasgow. And he didn't achieve that either. Rauh: A question that Mr. Turner wanted me to ask was what happened to the papers identifying the patients? To see some of the things that have happened are very upsetting. Because his dad isnt around to do it himself. Family 9 - Donald CAMERON 34, wife Agnes 30, children John 18, Margaret 13, Ann 12, Donald 10, Christian 8, Alexander 6, Dugald 2, Duncan 1/2 (see Donald Cameron) Family 10 - Duncan CAMERON 30 unmarried, sister Mrs McLENNAN 28 and Catherine McLENNAN 5 Advancing Voluntary, Informed Consent to Medical Intervention, Cameron was an internationally prominent psychiatrist who developed torture techniques on his involuntary hospitalized patients mostly women. He told The Scotsman: "Cameron's entire focus seemed to shift after the Nuremberg Trials. Heads up that some elements (i.e. Cameron followed these schools in demanding that mental disturbances are diseases and somatic in nature; all psychological illness would therefore be hardwired, a product of the body and the direct result of a patient's biological structure rather than caused by social environments. Amory: What we know of Camerons work comes from family accounts like Marian's, a few hard-won medical documents, and detailed descriptions of his techniques from his own journal articles and speeches. v USA, 1988] Tom Beauchamp, a leading American bioethicist was an expert witness for Camerons estate, arguing that Camerons treatment complied with the norm and practice of the day. Ben: When Amory and I spoke to Duncan Cameron about his dad, he also told us about his own work, as a lawyer. Not only was Ewen Cameron running the Allan Memorial, but he was leading psychiatric organizations, he was teaching at McGill University, and he was still seeing private patients. Ben Brock Johnson: So what do you have in front of you here? We shouldn't have done it, I'm sorry we did it.". There are movies like Gaslight and Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. We want to hear from you! Hes in his mid-80s now. Anyone with any appreciation of the complexity of the human mind would not expect that you could erase an adult mind and then add things back with this stupid psychic driving., Amory: The CIA also turned its back on Cameron. Ben: Sure, but I mean, in terms of trying to help cure people of mental illness or anything like that, not necessarily his process, but his end goal. A stronger personality would be able to maintain itself in heavy industrial situations, he theorised, while the weaker would not be able to cope with industrial conditions. . Memorials. 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