# Did Lou Reed really receive electroshock therapy?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/did-lou-reed-really-receive-electroshock-therapy/
- Published: 2026-11-05T20:45:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T21:37:08+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/did-lou-reed-receive-electroshock-therapy/
- Topics: Health, Mental Health

## Key points

- Reed said he received electroshock therapy at 17.
- His song ‘Kill Your Sons’ reflects on the experience.
- His sister described panic attacks and social phobias.

## Summary

Lou Reed said his parents sent him for electroshock therapy when he was 17, and he later linked the experience to his song ‘Kill Your Sons’. The story has often been told as an attempt to change his sexuality, but his sister later offered a different account of why the family sought treatment.

In the 1996 oral history Please Kill Me, Reed described electrodes being placed on his head and said the treatment was recommended to suppress homosexual feelings. His sister Merrill Reed Weiner, a psychotherapist, wrote after his death that he had panic attacks and social phobias, and that the family was struggling to respond to his mental illness. The article presents both accounts without establishing which motive best explains the treatment.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.