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Did Lou Reed really receive electroshock therapy?
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.
In short
- 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.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Reed’s own account is the clearest evidence for the claim: he described receiving electroshock therapy as a teenager and said it was intended to suppress homosexual feelings. His recollection, and his later connection of the experience to “Kill Your Sons”, deserves serious weight, particularly given the history of medical efforts to change or suppress homosexuality.
The case against
His sister Merrill Reed Weiner offered a different explanation, saying the family sought treatment because Reed had panic attacks and social phobias and they were struggling with his mental illness. As a family member and psychotherapist, she may have had insight into the circumstances, and her account cautions against treating the therapy’s motive as settled. The two explanations may also reflect different perspectives on the same treatment.