To start with: No.
You should not have (or perform) a lobotomy.
What is a lobotomy?
An eddy that jams the higher circuits?
Sounds like legitimate neuroscience to me; lets cut up some brains!
People wracked with anxiety became carefree.
Violent patients became docile.
Once severely depressed people smiled all day long.
Its the source of personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior.
Freeman called the post-lobotomy state surgically induced childhood, but that doesnt do it justice.
Some relapsed and their symptoms returned.
Some reportedly recovered and their symptoms disappeared.
About 14% of patients simply died from the procedure.
Severely mentally ill patients werent the only people to receive lobotomies, though.
The most famous of these was Rosemary Kennedy.
Her father, Joe Kennedy, took Rosemary to Freeman, who performed her lobotomy in November 1941.
Whether it worked or not depends on your point of view.
But enough history; lets get to the brain surgery!
Luckily, Freeman, the P.T.
In fact, its so efficient, Freeman could finish a lobotomy in under 10 minutes.
Fun fact: Freeman had no formal surgical training.
Sometimes he didnt bother.
Administer shocks of high-enough voltage to induce unconsciousness with an electroconvulsive therapy machine.
Sometimes Freeman did it with no anesthesia, however.
The tip of the icepick would now be resting against the thinnest portion of the skull.
Freeman would give a light tap with a hammer to break through the bone.
Now he would be able to easily push the icepick into the brain.
Freeman advised going 5cm deep.
Not too deep, or the patient would probably die.
Pull the handle of the icepick as far laterally as the rim of the orbit will permit.
This should sever the fibers at the base of the frontal lobe.
According to Freeman, this step is the ticklish part because arteries are in reach.
Then move the ice pick 15 to 20 degrees medially and about 30 degrees laterally.
If this was done wrong, the person would die.
If done correctly, theyd onlymaybedie.
Withdraw the icepick with a twisting motion while applying pressure on the eyelid to prevent hemorrhage.
Repeat with the other eye.
A true showman, Freeman would sometimes do both sides at once.
The lobotomy is now complete!
What happened to the lobotomy?
Why perform surgery when thorazine will do?
The lobotomy isnt completely dead, though.
A modified, vastly refined version of the procedure is still in use today.
The temporal lobectomy is used to treat severe cases of epilepsy that dont respond to drugs.
