Summary

In “Ray,” in 1979 Ray Osheroff was living at Chestnut Lodge, “one of the most elite hospitals in the country” (29). Suffering “from ‘a form of melancholia,’” Ray paced the hospital endlessly (29). Ray was a 41-year-old nephrologist, who had recently run into business trouble. His psychiatrist attributed his state of mind to “obsessive regret” over his failures (30).

When Ray’s mother Julia visited him at the Lodge, she begged his doctors to give him antidepressants. They would not prescribe him drugs, as the Lodge believed one had to have insight into their illness in order to be cured. This notion was Ernest Bullard’s founding principle. The Lodge’s primary goal was to foster understanding. If residents were given understanding, they might understand the mysteries of their own minds (32).

While Ray was an accomplished man, following his marriage to Joy, “he lost his momentum” (35). Meanwhile, his...