The Dark side of Science: The Lobotomy, the worst surgery in history? (Documentary)

#History #Science #lobotomy

Learn while you're at home with Plainly Difficult!

A lobotomy, or leucotomy as it was originally known, was a form of psychosurgery, a neurosurgical treatment of a mental disorder that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex.

The Barbaric surgery left many a shell of their former selves, and marks a dark point in mental health treatment.

Al though originally conceived in Portugal by Doctor Egas Moniz in the 1940s It would continue well into the 1960s under the hands of Walter freeman in the US.

The surgery would win Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine of 1949 for the "discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy in certain psychoses".

Help the Channel Grow Like, Comment & Subscribe!

Equipment used in this video:
Rode NTG3, Audient ID4, MacBook Pro 16, Hitfilm, Garage Band
Check out My Twitter:

Check out these other great channels:

Sources:

[JagoHazzard]

I can't help but feel that if you had an anxiety disorder, being informed that they were going to hammier an ice pick into your brain in a procedure with a 15% chance of killing you wouldn't help matters. I think I'd stick with the anxiety.

[markrice]

As a child of the 1950's, I saw children threatened with lobotomies if they didn't behave. The procedure was published in periodicals in the US, available to anyone who could read. I always considered it death without dying. Give it a 9.

[aBlackMage]

The Lobotomy became so popular that one of JFK's sisters received one due to an apparent developmental disorder as well as seizures and mood swings. This reduced her to the mental capacity of a two-year-old and was kept secret for decades. Absolutely crazy.
*Her name was Rosemary Kennedy, sorry for ommiting that.

[Sergei_Ivanovich_Mosin]

In a lot of cases lobotomy was effectively just a "legal assassination, " people would force their family members to get the treatment because they were an embarrassment to the family.
If I remember correctly, one of JFK's sisters actually got the procedure done because she was slightly rebellious (like a normal teen), so she was forced to get one, which pretty much rendered her borderline brain dead.

[tnsmom]

My aunt had one, the family just told us when we were small that she had part of her “worry gland removed” She had been in an abusive relationship and was “hysterical” (this was before ptsd)” She had a lobotomy to “settle her down” She suffered anxiety, nerves, couldn’t work anymore amongst other things. She was a lovely, gentle lady. Heartbreaking.

[teclinsoro]

i saw a quote from an old booklet advertising lobotomies that showed a young woman before and after the procedure with the heading; “in some instances, the best that can be done for the family is to return the patient to them in an innocuous state, a veritable household pet.” and the subtitle directly below it referencing the images said; “simple schizophrenia patients make nice household pets after operation.”
just chilling how they could even say that about a person, not once, but twice on the same page.

[miguelreal]

I’d rate it a 10. As Oseresky said, it violates the principles of humanity. This procedure literally torn people’s personality from them.

[dianaparker]

I worked in a small long term care home in mid 1990's. In this facility was a very elderly woman. She had the mind of a very small child. She could only articulate specific words. But could walk and feed herself. She had one surviving relative that was a niece who came around every 6 months or so, but was in contact by phone with the facility. The elderly lady really did not recognize her. This is what the niece told us. The elderly lady was Catholic and was about 16 yrs. Old. She was a active, loving, vibrant young lady. She met a young man by today's standards of 18 yrs. Old that was non catholic. They fell in love, but kept it secret bc her parents objected to them dating bc of their religious differences. The 2 secretly saw each other for about a year. Her family found out and forbade her from seeing him. He tried every way he could, but her family would not allow it. They went so far as meeting his family and demanding he stop. His family began discouraging him bc they did not want anymore problems with her family. Slowly he gave up. She became increasingly depressed. Finally, the young man reluctantly did give up. This caused her depression to dive deeper, she was giving up, so much so that they hospitalized her. Because of how deep her depression was the dr. Reccommened a frontal lobe lobotomy, the family okayed it. It was done. So a vibrant, lively in love young woman was surgically reduced to a person whom is described as the elderly woman above with 1 surviving family member. A lifetime squashed, living as small child in an adult body. Not able to think beyond the immediate with no impulse control. Now what we could NEVER figure completely out. But the niece suspected, that a pregnancy was involved in that relationship., bc this elderly lady always had to have a babydoll with her, and when she did not. She became very upset grabbing at her belly and yelling BA-ABY!, repeatedly. Her niece stated she had done that for as far back as she could remember. Did she give birth to a love child and the baby adopted out, or was it possibly aborted? We will never know. All in all, lobotomies are horrendous. She was not the first victim of lobotomies that I came across in senior healthcare facilities.

[Vednier]

So, in short, all Lobotomy did was reducing aggressive yelling mental patients into quite vegetable-like patients. Much easier to handle, but not cured at all.

[MartialLoreNZ]

To anyone, enthralled or appalled by this subject, I recommend "My Lobotomy" by Howard Dully, who as a 12 year-old child was lobotomized by Walter Freeman because his stepmother found him "difficult." It's a devastating story told by a lovely man.

[EzioAuditore]

Psychiatrists in 1940s: Its weird, we just permanently damage his brain severely with an ice pick and suddenly all his bad thoughts go away….Also his good thoughts but you cant see those, its a miracle!

[jessicacreed]

Fun fact. Lobotomies used to be a treatment for epilepsy- and they actually had a success rate. So we still do something similar. In people with severe epilepsy that can't be treated with meds, they can actually get brain surgery and take out a small part of the brain causing the seizures. It's the same idea, just executed better. Caused a lot of suffering overall, but they were onto something there.

[augustkallas]

It's like someone coming to a doctor with a broken leg and the doctor just cuts the leg off. "The operation was a great success: the patient hasn't complained about pain in his leg when walking since".

[sophierobinson]

.Saw an interview of a young man who's parents had him given one when he was a boy. He was apparently hyperactive. He calmed down, but at age 30 he said he felt nothing--no joy, no sorrow, no sympathy, no nothing.

[profyousmithe]

Freeman: “Lobotomies for everyone.”

Me: you first.

[Jinxsuxyo]

In 2017, at 23 years old, I received electro shock therapy once a week for 3 months to help with my bipolar type 2 disorder. My doctor assured me it would cure me since my medicine had not been working adequately. Now at 30, I realize he just got a fat bonus whenever he reccommended and got patients to agree to the procedure. Anyway, for those 3 months and about year after, I felt like I was living in a fog, walking through life with no emotions, like it wasn't real. I dont remember much of anything from that time, other than a hollow, dead feeling, It wasn't even depression. I was just there. Not really alive but not really dead either. I was lucid enough after 3 months to say I no longer wanted it. Eventually I switched doctors, and was immediately put on medicine that has changed my life in wonderful, healthy ways. I still think those shock treatments changed me in a lasting way, though. i cannot imagine what would have happened if I had been alive during the time of the lobotomy. They would have done that for me instead, and I would have never had the chance to get real help like I did now.

[ronkemperful]

As a nursing student in the 1970’s as part of my psychiatric rotation I dealt with old lobotomy patients and those treated by strong electroshock and with antipsychotics such as Thorazine. Disturbingly, even those treated with Thorazine had permanent brain damage evident by shuffling gaits, poor cognitive skills. Mood-altering drugs of any kind, whether recreational or prescribed can cause lifelong mental changes. Great video!

[rhinoworld]

“What’s that? Your son won’t sit still in school? Don’t worry, I’ll just shove icepicks through his eye sockets directly into his brain. That’ll fix him right up!”

[jhopetion]

Because poking a hole through the organ that controls almost every bodily function is a good idea. Always🙂.

[yspegel]

You can make a horror movie of this, leaving people shocked. Ending the movie with the text "Based on true treatment. Last treatment less then 50 years ago."
In my opinion this just proves not every doctor is out there to help you but enjoys torture.