"I Was Convulsed, Pitiably Hideous": Convulsive Shock Treatment in Leonora Carrington's Down Below

This essay examines Leonora Carrington's Down Below through a psychiatric lens. In particular, it looks at clinical accounts of Cardiazol-induced shock treatments next to Carrington's own testimony of the helplessness imposed upon the mentally ill and the socially transgressive. Cardiazol—an analeptic drug used to induce seizures strong enough to fracture vertebrae and stop the heart—is often mentioned in Carrington scholarship, but scholars have not delved into the drug's protocol. In fact, theorists have too readily accepted the details of psychiatric treatment in Carrington's piece as symbolic, metonymic, or simply fantastic recollections from a damaged mind. They concentrate on her more lucid interpretations after she has healed from her ordeal. However, when set beside clinical descriptions of Cardiazol treatment, the text appears more realistic than previously supposed. Down Below presents one of the most comprehensive and accurate patient descriptions of treatment with the psychiatric drug Cardiazol in existence today.