Last week I was interviewed by the Indie Book Butler and one of the questions was What do you want to achieve most from your writing? I responded by saying I want my readers to have a visceral response to what they were reading.
I’m fortunate that I have such interesting readers who get emotionally invested in the characters (just the way I like it!). There are two emails/comments I would like to share with you about aversions treatments (I refuse to call it therapy because it’s not, it’s torture) and the use of electroshock to treat depression.
I received the following email from Sue that I found so profoundly moving. I asked if I could share it on my site and she agreed:
Please note: I was going to use some real images of the procedure but chose to use images of “Eva” from the upcoming Intertwined Souls Promo.
My Visceral Reaction to a Mary D. Brooks Story
It was springtime 1960 and I was a twenty-year old student in my last few months before graduation from nurse’s training. I was doing my psychiatric nursing rotation on the second floor of the hospital’s new wing, the psych ward. The elevator opened up onto the open ward and I turned right to the nurse’s station. My assignment for the morning was to assist the psychiatrist in the administration of electroshock therapy. The treatment room was in the locked ward area a few feet from the nurse’s station. I was excited to at last see this treatment that we had discussed in the classroom.
The workings of the human mind had fascinated me since my sophomore year in high school when I took a course called Psychology which the school principal had taught. He gave us a list of twenty books on psychology, all that the school library held. Our assignment was to read four and write a book report on each. I read all twenty. In them I found learning treasures. The books gave me descriptions, explanations and names for behaviors that I was vaguely aware of but had no framework of knowledge to understand or identify. Now five years later I was learning psychiatric nursing skills.
Another student and I took the gurney to the patient’s room, put her on it and placed the restraining strap around her abdomen. She was quite as we moved her to the treatment room. The doctor was standing by the electrical current control box and we positioned the gurney with the patient’s head by the box. The nurse in charge stood by the woman’s left arm. I stood by her right arm and the other student stood at her feet. The doctor applied the gel to the woman’s temples, then the electrodes. He checked the dials on the box and nodded to the nurse. She placed a padded tongue depressor in the woman’s mouth and told her to bite down on it. The nurse nodded to me and the other student. We each took a firm but gentle grip on the woman’s extremities. The doctor pushed a button on the box, the woman jerked and convulsed briefly. The doctor disconnected the electrodes. The nurse removed the tongue depressor from the now comatose patient’s mouth and wiped the gel off her temples. We returned the patient to her bed, raised the head of the bed and put up the bedrails. Then we moved on to the next woman scheduled for electroshock treatment. In my naivety, I never once consider the societal implications of this mental health treatment.
In the following years I settled into my role as wife and mother, almost! I became involved in the feminist movement attending consciousness raising meetings, working in the women’s political caucus and going to seminars on women’s issues. I often thought and voiced my opinion that women were treated as objects, not humans, to be
controlled, especially in the field of mental health. I remembered my observations of the women patients that I had worked with in psychiatric nursing. I looked around me and saw the executive wives zoned on Soma. I did not want to be where I was. I begin graduate studies in counseling and part of the training was my own counseling. I studied human sexuality and attended the seminars. I started to remember incidents from the past when I would have unusual feelings around women. I even recalled a time in high school at a slumber party when I had an urge to kiss a friend. These types of feelings were not discussed in the high school Psychology class or books. I had suppressed the feelings as being crazy thoughts. I begin to realize that maybe I was not heterosexual. One evening, after fifteen years of marriage to a man, I spontaneously kissed a woman friend. The sparks flew and I knew I had never felt that way. I filed for divorce, moved out and started to learn about the love of my life.
Thirty-seven years have passed. We have grown old together and recently married. A few days ago I was reading Hidden Truths and the description of Theresa’s drawing of Eva receiving electroshock in 1942 as part of her aversion therapy. I stopped reading, laid the Kindle down and stared out the window. I was reliving the brutality of what I saw in that treatment room fifty-five years ago. OMG that could have been me or my beloved. Our relationship has stayed hidden for all these years except to a very few out of the reality of homophobic and anti-Semitic retaliation. I had not thought of retaliation in the form of aversion therapy. I felt nausea, anger and fear.
and we had a discussion over email about how effective electroshocks were in treating depression (it was a legitimate treatment) (to relate this to the novel “In the Blood of the Greeks” – Eva underwent electroshock therapy for her depression (or melancholy as it was known back in the 1930’s) in addition to the aversion treatments. One was legitmate and the other was torture.
Sue sent me the following information about the treatment:
From my nursing school textbook, Introduction to Psychiatric Nursing by Marion E. Kalkman, R.N., M.A., 1958. “Shock therapy in the treatment of psychiatric patients seems to go back historically to the old idea that the way to cure a madman was to shock him into his senses.” “Why the treatment works and how it works are not known.” “ It has proved particularly effective in the treatment of depressions…” “Perhaps the most distressing sequel of electroshock treatment to most patients is the temporary impairment of memory.” “Since the effect of electroshock treatment is to help the patient repress his conflict, the efforts of the nurse should be to help the patient socialize rather than to assist him in gaining insight into his illness.”
Edgar Miller, “Psychological Theories of ECT: A Review,” International Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 5, No. 2, Feb.1968. “ECT has its effects by assisting the process of repression… through the mechanisms of regression to infantile behavior, through fear induced by the treatment, or through regarding the treatment as punishment.”
“The most consistent result of ECT is the impairment of memory which may vary from mild forgetfulness to severe confusion.”
“Shock Therapy Makes Return In Treating Depression” April 9, 1995. “One could list hundreds of physiological measures that change during ECT, but which ones are related to its therapeutic effect remain to be seen,” says Dr. Matthew Rudorfer of National Institute of Mental Health.
“Electroconvulsive Therapy: What It Is, How It Works and Who It Helps” Oct. 29,2014. “Sophisticated neuroimaging techniques have shown scientists that ECT changes and re-regulates neuronal circuits that are disregulated during depression…” “It also clearly releases the neurochemicals that control our moods in a way that’s similar to, but more powerful than, the antidepressant medications…”
That’s a look through the years as to how electroshock works. Today’s method of administration is more humane as they give the patient anesthesia and muscle relaxant before the electroshock.
I’ve been fascinated by the human condition for as long as I can remember and It astonishes me how someone could undergo such torture (aversion treatments) and still be able to function. This leads me to the second part of this discussion with a dear friend Dr Patricia Saunders which I will post in the next update. A fascinating look at PTSD, aversion treatments and the psychological effects it has. I spent some time with Dr Patty at the 2015 Xena Convention in Burbank – to say I had so many questions is an understatement. One of the most fascinating conversations I’ve ever had.
Stay tuned! Many thanks to Sue for contributing that incredible story.
It’s called “Jumping Off The Cliff” – A journal by Zoe Lambros, translated from Greek to English by Mary D. Brooks.
Zoe’s journal will feature her thoughts, experiences and the journey to Egypt after she leaves Larissa with Eva. The journal will have images related to the journey and other assorted little tidbits from Zoe.
A sneak peek at the first entry has been posted to Mary D. Brooks May Newsletter #2
2nd Edition available now to pre-order – Contains additional material new to this edition
The fourth installment of the Intertwined Souls Series, Awakenings, continues the journey of two extraordinary women, Eva Haralambos and Zoe Lambros to Greece and Germany. Having gone back to Greece to reclaim Zoe’s inheritance after the Greek Civil War had ended, they are confronted by their own haunted memories and secrets.
Eva not only has to deal with her wartime memories in a town that despised her, but she also has to contend with a figure from her past. The festive wedding of a wartime hero brings to light Eva’s strength in facing her fears.
Zoe contends with own harrowing memories and relives a day that shattered her soul but out of the darkness there is light.
They get help from two formidable women—Zoe’s Aunt, Dr. Stella Nikas-Lambros, an exuberant, zany character in her own right, and Theresa Mitsos, the quiet, gentle soul with extraordinary paranormal abilities.
In Germany they discover secrets that have spanned generations and shocking revelations. Their lives are once again altered in ways neither of them expected.
Follow this emotional journey of Eva and Zoe. It’s more than a lesbian romance. Secrets are revealed, new abilities are found and risks are taken.
My first book “In The Blood of the Greeks” deals with Eva and Zoe trying to help Jews escape from Larissa Greece. Thessaloniki (or Thessalonica) is about 150 km from Larissa. The trains shipping Jews from Athens went through Larissa before they went to Thessalonica. Here’s an interesting article about this. Thessalonica and Larissa had the highest concentration of Jews in Greece. After the war, the Jewish communities were shattered.
Thessaloniki Jews remember 72nd anniversary of transport to Nazi Germany’s death camps
THESSALONIKI, Greece – Residents of Greece’s second-largest city on Sunday placed flowers on train tracks and inside old cattle wagons in solemn remembrance of nearly 50,000 local Jews who were transported to Nazi death camps during World War II.
About 2,000 people joined together at Thessaloniki’s Freedom Square for the 72nd anniversary of the roundup and deportation of the Jews. Some held banners that said: “Racism Kills, Let’s Learn from History,” and “Never Again.”
The crowd then marched to the northern city’s old railway station, where the first of 19 trains departed for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex on March 15, 1943.
A locomotive believed to have been used to transport Jews, and four carriages that normally would carry cattle and in which people spent nine days locked up on their way to the extermination camps, were at the station. The crowd laid flowers on the wagons and the tracks.
“It was a horrible, mournful, rainy day. Even the skies were weeping,” recalled Heinz Cunho, 87, one of fewer than 100 surviving Greek Jews who made it back from the camps. “Normally, the carriages held 50 people. There were 80 of us to a wagon, and they had us locked up throughout the nine-day trip.”
Greece’s government has decided to include among its demands for German World War II reparations a sum, today equivalent to 50 million euros ($53 million), paid as a ransom to Nazi occupiers in 1942 to free about 10,000 Jewish men used as slave laborers in Greece. They were freed, but still sent subsequently to death camps.
Jews, mostly Sephardic refugees from Spain and its Inquisition, formed the majority of Thessaloniki’s inhabitants from the 16th to early 20th centuries. Their numbers dwindled in the early 20th century.
Of the 46,091 Thessaloniki Jews sent to the camps, 1,950 survived. Others avoided the camps by either joining the partisan resistance or escaping to Turkey by boat, with the help of residents, and making it to the Middle East. Today, the Jewish community in the city of nearly 800,000 numbers fewer than 2,000.
“We are marching upon the footsteps that Greek Jews marched back then. We must remain united and opposed to Nazism, racism and anti-Semitism,” said David Saltiel, head of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community.
Some photos (photos courtesy of Associated Press)
Mina Beneroubi, a survivor of the Holocaust, right, places flowers on rails at the old train station of Thessaloniki, in the Greek northern town of Thessaloniki, on Sunday, March 15, 2015. Residents of this northern Greek city on Sunday marked the 72nd anniversary of the roundup and deportation of its Jews to Nazi extermination camps during World War II. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) (The Associated Press)
A girl stands in front of a train wagon that was used by the Nazis to carry Jews from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz during WWII, in the Greek northern town of Thessaloniki, on Sunday, March 15, 2015. Residents of this northern Greek city on Sunday marked the 72nd anniversary of the roundup and deportation of its Jews to Nazi extermination camps during World War II. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) (The Associated Press)
A woman places flowers inside a train wagon that was used by the Nazis to carry Jews from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz during WWII, in the Greek northern town of Thessaloniki, on Sunday, March 15, 2015. Residents of this northern Greek city on Sunday marked the 72nd anniversary of the roundup and deportation of its Jews to Nazi extermination camps during World War II. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) (The Associated Press)
In the Blood of the Greeks, Intertwined Souls Series Book 1, by Mary D. Brooks, is an amazing story set against the horrors of World War II.
In Larissa, Greece, the town’s occupants are living in fear. World War II is raging in Europe, but in their small town, they are living under Nazi tyranny. Zoe Lambros, a young Greek woman, has suffered much due to the war. Her hardened heart desires one thing: revenge. Eva Muller, the daughter of a German Major in command of the occupying force, is living with her own fear. When the two women meet, it’s not a friendly encounter. Can they overcome their hatred and work together to survive the war?
There are many novels that take place during World War II. To write one that stands out in the crowd takes not only a great story, but intriguing characters, heart, passion, fear, and unfortunately blood. In the Blood of the Greeks is more than a historical fiction novel. It’s more than a lesbian romance. It’s a classic tale about forbidden love and finding the courage to follow one’s heart no matter the consequences. The pages are filled with courageous people who are everyday people doing what they think is right even if that means they might be killed. War is hell. Not just on the battlefields, but on the home front. Every day is filled with risks, sadness, and despair. But there’s also hope. While you may need Kleenex while reading this story, you’ll also laugh, cheer, and realize that even when everything looks bleak, there is still happiness to be found. It’s a wonderful lesson that all of us can apply in today’s world. Never give up, no matter what the odds, especially if love is involved.
The author does a wonderful job of whisking the reader back in time to occupied Greece and it’s nice to see a novel focus on Greece and not France. So many people lived under Nazi terror and it’s important that stories from all the countries are told. Mary D. Brooks did her research and she’s created such a realistic story that is harrowing. Many may wonder what it was like to live during World War II. Read this book to get a taste. Brooks thrusts the reader into the midst of the occupation in such a way it’s not surprising to find oneself gasping for breath, fearful that death is just on the next page.
Eva and Zoe are incredible characters and their depth keeps the reader engaged in the story. Brooks, though, has such a wonderful supporting cast filled with good guys and truly evil ones. However, not all of them are black and white, and it’s the shades of gray that make this story so realistic and addictive.
Even though this is a romance, it’s also a thrilling read. Who can Eva and Zoe trust? This sense of dread makes for some uncomfortable reading at times, but it also makes the story unforgettable. To become that enthralled by fictional characters is a treat for book lovers. Historical fiction and romance fans will enjoy this heartfelt story. Highly recommended.
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