Surely you have ever heard the phrase "You seem to have been brainwashed!", To refer to a person who has radically changed his mind on an issue. But, where does this expression come from? It seems that the practice of brain lobotomy gave shape and meaning to this. A kind of "magic", as some called it, that "cured" some psychological disorders.
If you want to know more details about the practice, what is lobotomy and what is it forIn addition to its consequences and when it was banned, keep reading! In this Psychology-Online article we explain it to you.
Index
- What is lobotomy
- History of lobotomy
- What is a lobotomy for?
- Consequences of lobotomy
- When was lobotomy banned
What is lobotomy.
Leukotomy or prefrontal lobotomy is a surgical procedure by which nerve fibers from the frontal region of the brain are sectioned, disconnecting the frontal cortex from the rest of the brain. This practice was carried out in the 20th century, when psychiatrists inserted a large needle into the brain in order to to modify it and thus change behaviors that are disruptive or that generated discomfort in patients in an operation called lobotomy.
The procedure consists of drilling the skull and inserting special instruments to cut the nerve fibers of the frontal lobe. But, what does the lobotomy do to you? The hypothesis that supports this procedure is given by the knowledge of the implication that the frontal cortex has in the control and modulation of behavior and emotions in humans and higher primates; thus in pathologies such as depression, generalized anxiety, psychoses and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
History of lobotomy.
In 1946, Walter freeman, he promoted the transorbital lobotomy, or ice pick lobotomy in which, in which an orbitoclast was inserted through the inner extremity of the eye and, With a metal mallet, the nerve connections in the frontal lobe of the brain were cut, transforming the lobotomy into an outpatient practice and fast.
Initially, the technique was implemented exclusively in patients with severe schizophrenia and intractable OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) or severe depression. However, later, Freeman practiced this technique on all kinds of patients, even people without psychological illnesses who simply had a threatening look.
Freeman traveled all over the United States performing lobotomies on patients with psychiatric disorders until the 50s, when this method stopped being used due to the appearance of new techniques such as chlorpromazine. The famous doctor, despite his loss of license Due to the death of one of his patients while undergoing a lobotomy, he continued to practice his profession and use this method until the 1970s.
There were some cases of experimental lobotomies in Portugal and the United States before the war, but it was only after 1945 that the practice took on its full breadth. It will only disappear the 50's with the arrival of the first neuroleptic (1952), and then with antidepressants (1955).
What is the lobotomy for?
There are no precise therapeutic indications for lobotomies. The goal was to rid hospitals of "unruly" patients. It was necessary to find a way to send them home, to "stabilize" them in order to "reintegrate" them.
It should be said that prefrontal lobotomy was performed without anesthesia, but it was performed after a electroshock that had an anesthetic effect, which had the advantage of being able to do them without the need for rooms of operation. Furthermore, this operation calmed the patients more difficult, being this the only criterion that the efficacy of the cerebral lobotomy was judged.
Consequences of lobotomy.
Despite the fact that in 1949, Egas Moniz, a prestigious Portuguese neurosurgeon, received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the therapeutic value of prefrontal lobotomy in certain psychoses, it was later shown the devastating consequences that lobotomy had for patients.
At first there were symptoms of stupor, confusional state, and even urinary problems such as incontinence, and alterations in eating behavior. In addition, many patients appeared to behave like children after a few days, something that, according to Freeman, was fleeting.
But what most drew attention to the social environment of the patient, was the personality change in which he was involved. The ability to make decisions, planning, working memory and attention is reduced, among other important psychological processes. An inhibition even appeared before pleasant stimuli and the capacity for empathy could be affected.
Not being enough all these side effects of lobotomies, some patients began to suffer seizures after being operated on, many of them even dying from this type of intervention.
When was lobotomy banned.
Actually, the prefrontal lobotomy disappears with the introduction of chlorpromazine in the 50's (a specific drug for the treatment of psychosis), when the long-awaited chimera of treating psychiatric illnesses with medication is finally achieved.
Chlorpromazine allows satisfactory control of the aggressive symptoms of numerous pathological entities in the field of neuropsychiatry, for what the availability of effective drug therapy, as opposed to the ethical dilemma and side effects of lobotomy. Through its use, psychosurgery as a discipline disappears suddenly and almost completely.
If you want to know about anxiolytics and psychoactive drugs, we recommend you read our following articles: Quetiapine: what it is, what it is for and side effects, Imipramine: what it is, function, dosage and side effects Y Anapsique: what it is, what it is for and side effects.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
Hernández, D., Manuel, Z. D. J., & Roberto, R. History of psychosurgery. Lobotomy: from the Nobel Prize to reproach. International open university.
Pignarre, P. (2020). The forgotten history. Social Sciences and Education, 9(18), 281-286.
