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Episode details

Radio Lincolnshire,22 May 2026,9 mins

The doctor who cured the madness of King George

Secret Lincolnshire

Available for over a year

Mental health treatment in the 18th century was at best primitive and at worst barbaric, but a Lincolnshire physician had other ideas. Dr. Francis Willis was one of the first people to treat the symptoms of ‘madness’ in a holistic way, rather than trying to find physical causes. His success led him to treat - and apparently cure - King George III, who suffered from bouts of depression, paranoia and hallucinations. Dr. Willis' work is still seen as one of the early steps towards what is now known as talking therapy. Produced and narrated by Patrycja Boryka.

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