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Lobotomy - one of the most barbaric treatments in the history of modern medicine

Before antipsychotic drugs were invented, lobotomy was a popular "cure" for mental illness. The purpose of this procedure was to cut the nerve fibers in the brain that connect the (responsible for thinking) frontal lobe to other regions of the brain.

Lobotomy was invented in 1935 by António Egas Moniz. His original method involved drilling holes into the skull and pumping absolute alcohol into the frontal cortex, essentially destroying brain tissue. However, in 1946 another neurologist, Walter Freeman, developed a new method. Instead of drilling into the skull, he used a hammer to drive an ice pick into his patients’ brains through their eye sockets. While the original method took over an hour, the new method could be done in 10 minutes or less. In some cases, lobotomy worked well, but in many it had tragic results. After this treatment, some patients lost an ability to function on their own, while others couldn’t feel strong emotions or empathy. People believed it could help them, but instead of the results they dreamed of, they could become severe disabled. Lobotomy is definitely scary and I'm glad I live in a time where it’s not popular. 

A drawing from Dr. Walter Freeman’s book shows his
icepick-inspired transorbital lobotomy instrument


Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-lobotomy-5114062


Comments

  1. englishdiaryMarch 15, 2022 at 12:08 PM

    I wonder what symptoms and diseases made doctors perform lobotomy. I suppose they didn't need the patient's consent to perform it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ania GMarch 22, 2022 at 1:09 PM

      Lobotomies were typically performed on people with depression, obsessive compulsive disorder or schizophrenia. Though lobotomies were initially only used to treat severe mental health condition, Freeman began promoting the lobotomy as a cure for everything from serious mental illness to nervous indigestion. For most of the period lobotomy was practiced, there was no law requiring informed patient consent. Some lobotomies were arranged by patients' families. So I guess no one cared if they consented to them.

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