William Bleckwenn

William J. Bleckwenn
Colonel William Bleckwenn in Australia, 1943 (US Army Photograph)
Born	July 23, 1895 Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York
Died	January 6, 1965 (age 69) Winter Haven, Florida
Residence	Winter Haven, Florida
Citizenship	United States
Nationality	United States
Fields	Medicine; Psychiatry; Neurology; Psychopharmacology
Institutions	University of Wisconsin–Madison
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin–Madison (B.S.); Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (M.D.)
Known for	Research in Neurology & Psychiatry
Notable awards	Legion of Merit

William Jefferson Bleckwenn (July 23, 1895 – January 6, 1965) was an American neurologist, psychiatrist, and military physician, who was instrumental in developing the treatment known as "narcoanalysis" or "narcosynthesis." The lay-description for that process is the administration of "truth serum."

Bleckwenn was born in Astoria (borough of Queens) in New York City, in 1895. He received his elementary and secondary education there in public city schools, graduating from high school at the top of his class. He then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW) in 1913, earning a B.S.- Med. degree in 1917 as part of an accelerated medical course of study. As an undergraduate, Bleckwenn was an accomplished athlete in track & field, especially in the hammer throw. Because UW did not have a four-year degree-granting medical school until the mid-1920s, Bleckwenn transferred to the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City. He received his M.D. from that institution in 1920. Bleckwenn then pursued residency training at Bellevue Hospital in New York, as well as the Wisconsin Psychiatric Institute (WPI) in Madison. At WPI, he came under the tutelage of William Lorenz and Hans Reese.

Upon completion of his training, Bleckwenn was asked to join Lorenz and Reese on the staff of WPI, which had by then become part of the UW Department of Neuropsychiatry. He quickly acquired skill as an administrator and researcher, becoming assistant director of the Institute in the late 1920s. Around that time, Bleckwenn also began investigational studies on the use of barbiturates to treat catatonic mutism, a particularly disabling form of schizophrenia. He and Lorenz found that intravenous sodium amytal (amobarbital) was effective in producing a "lucid interval," wherein catatonic patients could converse normally, respond to questions appropriately, move about nimbly, and provide information about their thought processes and backgrounds that would otherwise have been impossible to obtain. The latter benefit of the treatment was given the names "narcoanalysis" or "narcosynthesis." In a short time, the amytal-induced "lucid interval" became a proof-positive test for the diagnosis of catatonia.