Dr Q’s* standard discharge letter, seen several times pertaining to young males, in addition to the anti-psychotics prescribed: Tace, Cod Roe, Ergotherapy.
Ergotherapy seemed quite straightforward: mental distress could be ameliorated, if not cured, by work. Arbeit macht dich better. Ergotherapy probably reveals something about the clinicians underlying Victorian attitude to his patients as much as he wanted to quell any unseemly sexual desires.
Prescribing cod roe** may have been an attempt to broaden his patients’ gastronomic horizons – it was also believed to suppress sexual appetite. I’m not sure how much one would need to consume on a daily basis for it to be effective, but the population of nations like Greece, continues to increase. I could never understand the concerns, even fear, that the consultant harboured about fit young men. Did he expect them all to present a priapic danger to the many vulnerable females in the community? Perhaps he saw this as a case of eugenics – controlling the spread of mental illness?
What the hell was Tace? I wondered if it was some sort of acronym or abbreviation (Treatment All Concluded Exunt?). I couldn’t find any references when researching this, but I definitely recall having conversations about this “treatment”. I never discovered what Tace was: a third-year student nurse told me it was something akin to a female hormone. I don’t think he knew. I’m not even sure that it was a drug – maybe a supplement like a vitamin. Whatever it was, it appeared on the recommendations of Dr Q’s discharge letters. There was little evidence to support the use of any of these measures, but at least one consultant psychiatrist reverted to them on numerous occasions.
*Dr Q as identified in the Report of the Inquiry.
**Cod roe the anti-matter to oysters?
Note 1: Chlorotrianisene (Tace) was a synthetic oestrogen that was used to treat menopause symptoms, oestrogen deficiency, and prostate cancer. It is no longer available, due a poor side-effect profile; later synthetic oestrogens are much safer. It was never intended or licensed as a means of emasculating young men.
6 April 2025
