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Refused hypnosis, lost his freedom
Moving to minimum
He had been committed to Clifton Perkins State Hospital after killing his parents in 1992. In the fall of 1997 he moved to minimum security, after a new psychiatrist swapped him to a lower dose of antipsychotic medication. That doctor predicted that after a year on minimum, Brian would be ready to go home. He took 14 supervised trips outside the hospital and watched other patients leave.
The hypnosis refusal
Then his therapist announced he had been taking lessons in hypnosis and wanted to try it on Brian. When the therapist told him to lie down, Brian said no. His chart recorded that he refused therapy, and at the hospital a patient who refused therapy was moved automatically to a higher security ward. Brian went back to medium security.
Medicated and stuck
The doctor he liked was gone, and the new one soon raised his medication. This time Brian became incontinent and felt medicated into a stupor. New patients kept arriving at Perkins and getting discharged, while he stayed in the same place or slid backward.
How do antipsychotics make people sedated?
Antipsychotic drugs work mainly by blocking dopamine D2 receptors in the brain, which dampens psychotic symptoms. Many also block histamine receptors, which causes drowsiness, the same mechanism behind older allergy pills. Dopamine blockade in movement pathways can cause stiffness, tremor, or restlessness, known together as extrapyramidal symptoms. Clinicians track these effects with tools such as the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale.
Why does refusing therapy raise security level?
Forensic hospitals commonly use level systems, where privileges such as grounds access and outings rise with participation in treatment. Staff read engagement as evidence that a patient is working on the illness behind the offense, and refusal as a sign that the risk has not changed. Structured risk tools used in forensic psychiatry, such as the HCR-20, list poor response to treatment among the factors that raise concern.
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