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Concept
William Bleckwenn
Summary
William Jefferson Bleckwenn (July 23, 1895 – January 6, 1965) was an American neurologist, psychiatrist, and military physician, who was instrumental in developing the treatment known as "narcoanalysis" or "narcosynthesis", also known by the lay term "truth serum".
Bleckwenn was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City, in 1895. He received his elementary and secondary education there in public city schools, graduating from high school at the top of his class. He then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in 1913, earning a B.S.- Med. degree in 1917 as part of an accelerated medical course of study. As an undergraduate, Bleckwenn was an accomplished athlete in track & field, especially in the hammer throw. Bleckwenn enrolled at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He received his M.D. from that institution in 1920. Bleckwenn then pursued residency training at Bellevue Hospital in New York and at the Wisconsin Psychiatric Institute (WPI) in Madison. At WPI, he came under the tutelage of William Lorenz and Hans Reese.
Upon completion of his training, Bleckwenn was asked to join Lorenz and Reese on the staff of WPI, which had by then become part of the UW Department of Neuropsychiatry. He quickly acquired skill as an administrator and researcher, becoming assistant director of the institute in the late 1920s. Around that time, Bleckwenn also began investigational studies on the use of barbiturates to treat catatonic mutism, a particularly disabling form of schizophrenia. He and Lorenz found that intravenous sodium amytal (amobarbital) was effective in producing a "lucid interval," wherein catatonic patients could converse normally, respond to questions appropriately, move about nimbly, and provide information about their thought processes and backgrounds that would otherwise have been impossible to obtain. The latter benefit of the treatment was given the names "narcoanalysis" or "narcosynthesis." In a short time, the amytal-induced "lucid interval" became a proof-positive test for the diagnosis of catatonia.
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