Madness By Jonathan Miller

The gifted and extremely versatile Jonathan Miller, a medical doctor and theatre director (he gave us both The Body in Question and the BBC Shakespeare Plays), returns with a new series which examines the history of, theories about, and treatments for mental illness. We watched the third episode in the series, "Brainwaves." At Stonybrook Institution on Long Island, Dr. Miller follows Dr. Max Fink as he makes his rounds among the mentally ill. The patients talk in dissociated sentences, and have difficulty focusing their attention--they seem, for all intents and purposes, to be in another world. Suddenly, we're in another room where a patient is being administered to, and we quickly recognize the treatment: electro-shock therapy. To the layperson, the scene seems terribly retrogressive and primitive. How did we get from there essentially back to there? Dr. Miller answers the question by tracing the history of treatments for the insane. The extent to which man has gone to understand madness is sadly reflected in the range of treatments employed through the ages: from the "rack" and the "iron maiden" to insulin shock treatment and lobotomies and drugs and back to electro-shock therapy. Miller examines all of these subjects in detail, using archival photographs and film clips throughout (which are, it should be noted, quite graphic--both the historical scenes of electroshock therapy and scenes of lobotomies being performed caused me to look away from the screen more than once). As the program draws to a close, Miller revisits the patients who made no sense at the beginning of the program: the electro-shock therapy (which is very mild compared to what used to occur) has somehow broken through the fog, and the people are lucid and grateful. To doctor's Fink and Miller, the reason for the success is a mystery, but it seems to work for some. Disturbing, yet illuminating, Madness is a powerful piece of reportage on a subject that we don't like to think about. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. The other titles in the series are: "To Define True Madness," "Out Of Sight," "The Talking Cure," and "In Two Minds." (See FRONTLINE: THE DEATH OF NANCY CRUZAN for availability.)