Iconic musician Lou Reed endured a series of electroshock therapy sessions when he was just 17-years-old because his parents and doctors believed it would help with his mental health issues. 

The musician was sent for 24 sessions at two day intervals at the Creedmoor State Psychiatric Hospital in Queens, New York during the summer of 1959 and author Aiden Levy has penned a new book, entitled 'Dirty Blvd: The Life and Music of Lou Reed', that looks at how the controversial therapy shaped Reed's beliefs and values. 

In the book, Levy writes: "His thoughts were a howl on the high and low frequencies that he would later channel into a real amplifier, but through deafening white noise one thought remained clear - he would have his retribution."

For the book, Levy interviewed Dr Irwin Mendelsohn, whose residency at Creedmoor began in 1960 shortly after Reed spent time there.

He explained: "It was mainly used to treat people who were considered in serious danger of suicide. [Patients were] mostly muscle relaxants to prevent fractures. I think the person was pretty aware of what was going on'. A lot of it was not so much treatment; warehousing was the term that comes to mind. Many of these people were very delusional, very sick, paranoid, depressed, and there wasn't much that could be done. They were not candidates for psychotherapy, for the most part, and they were abandoned by their families."

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Watch an interview with Reed here: