The Montreal Experiments were a series of experiments, initially aimed to treat schizophrenia[1] by changing memories and erasing the patients' thoughts using Donald Ewen Cameron's method of “psychic driving” [2] as well as drug-induced sleep, intensive electroconvulsive therapy, sensory deprivation and Thorazine. The experiments were conducted at the Allan Memorial Institute of McGill University between 1957 and 1964 by the Scottish psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron and funded by the CIA as part of Project MKUltra, which lasted until 1973 and was only revealed to the public in 1975.
The patients of this experiment, who were mainly diagnosed with depression or schizophrenia expected positive changes from Cameron's treatment. However, these patients suffered severely under conditions that are not in accordance with the human rights.[3] Not only the patients but also their families show long lasting effects on their mental health. Some of these symptoms include retrograde amnesia as well as impairments in every day life abilities such as self-care.
To this day, the topic of the experiments of Montreal has been kept in the dark by the CIA, who actively prevent information about these experiments from being leaked to the public, whether that be through destruction of files[4] or signing non-disclosure agreements.[5]
