Early in the 20th Century, individuals who suffered from mental illness had little hope of recovery. Psychiatric medications had yet to be discovered, and the afflicted were often locked away in overcrowded asylums. In 1935 a radical new medical procedure, called a lobotomy, was being performed on the most severely mentally ill. Initially this form of brain surgery appeared to offer hope for patients by lessening the severity of psychotic symptoms.
This is the gripping tale of Dr. Walter Freeman, who in 1936 began performing the operation, and championed it as a general cure for everything from psychosis to misbehavior in children. The ambitious neurologist devoted his life to perfecting and promoting the procedure. By the 1940’s, doctors from 50 state asylums were routinely utilizing his technique, and by 1956 over 40,000 people had been lobotomized in America. Once hailed by the Nobel Committee as a hero of modern medicine, Dr. Walter Freeman would ultimately be labeled a moral monster.
I can recommend:
“The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive” with Stephen Fry, English actor and writer.
It is available here at this website, and has a very humane and down-to-earth approach to manic depression, without neglecting the severity of this mental illness.
Manic depression (aka bipolarity or bipolar syndrome) affects 4 million people in the UK. Stephen Fry himself is one of them.
It should be noted that it was NOT just Walter Freeman (1895-1972) who conducted lobotomies. Many doctors did it in a time where there were virtually NO anti-psychotic or anti-depressant medications to calm down patients that were violant and/or suicidal.
Still, it was a CRIME against these patients – who looked to their doctors for help and trusted them – to do INTENTIONAL brain damage to make these people more docile and passive. Lobotomy is psychiatry’s darkest hour, and that says a lot!
Today psychiatric patients are given medications with a wide range of side effects, of which some may be irreversable, to calm them down.
It should be noted that it was NOT just Walter Freeman (1895-1972) who conducted lobotomies. Many doctors did it in a time where there were virtually NO anti-psychotic or anti-depressant medications to calm down patients that were violant and/or suicidal.
Still, it was a CRIME against these patients – who looked to their doctors for help and trusted them – to do INTENTIONAL brain damage to make these people more docile and passive. Lobotomy is psychiatry’s darkest hour, and that says a lot!
Today psychiatric patients are given medications with a wide range of side effects, of which some may be irreversable, to calm them down.
the link is broken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH4lUN3K9RI
This would be the worst operation for anyone to undergo. Its horrible I cannot believe this even was invented luckily they can prescibe certain medication now days.
Warning – the above is a fake comment used to mask a link to a fraudulent website .. they take payment but do not deliver any service.
Unfortunate but true . I have read a book about a child who had a lobotomy by this doctor. The name is MY LOBOTOMY. Unfortunately then as now psychiatry is not an exact science. The medications seem kinder but are sometimes a chemical lobotomy
Exactly. Anything is better than this disgusting practise of lobotomy. Thank God THAT isn’t used anymore. Still, some of the meds used TODAY on psychiatric treatments are also very rough on the patient. Although it is unknown HOW it works, Lithium is widely used in people sufferign from manic depression / bipolarity, and the difference between an effective dose and a lethal dose is small. Thus a person treated with Lithium must have their blood taken regularly to avoid an accidental lethal overdose.
Unbelievable, I can’t believe this kept going on even though the results seemed to always be bad!