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In this chilling dive into the history of psychiatry, we uncover the controversial legacy of Dr. Henry Cotton, the medical director of the New Jersey State Hospital for the Insane in the early 20th century. Driven by a misguided obsession with infection as the root cause of mental illness, Cotton’s radical treatments, including tooth and organ removal, left a trail of suffering and death in their wake. From his meteoric rise to his shocking methods and eventual downfall, we explore the man, his madness, and the dark chapters he wrote in the history of mental health care.

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