The Icepick Lobotomy Story
As a course of treatment for mental disorders a lobotomy was often performed as a way of controlling the insane.
They were messy and often done to extremes,requiring brain surgery to remove connecting nerve fibers of the frontal lobe as a means to the end. Holes were drilled thru the patient's skull to gain access to the prefrontal cortex and the results varied widely. The procedure was actual brain surgery at first,requiring necessary anesthesia and prolonged healing associated with an invasive surgery method. Neuropsychiatrist Walter Freeman had an idea of using an icepick inserted past the eyeball near the nose to be driven with a common mallet to break a hole thru the socket bone into the prefrontal cortex using local anesthesia or even electroshock for an in office procedure, After breaching the skull,the icepick was inserted about two inched deep and moved to sever the nerve fibers from the frontal lobe to the rest of the brain. After being satisfied with the initial progress,the pick was inserted deeper and the method was repeated. At times,a patient was kept conscious and asked questions until they were no longer able to give proper answers,signifying that the work was complete.
As Dr.Freeman was more a showman than an actual doctor,he often did the operations with two icepicks at the same time. Mostly women got the lobotomies,but children as well. The females were lobotomized for post partum depression,behavior problems or just about anything a quack could come up with. The kids fell under the butchery for often nothing more than acting up as any normal kid might do. Of the 5,000 lobotomies that Freeman did,a rather interesting person who the good doctor was the guy chosen by Joe Kennedy to treat Rose Marie Kennedy,the sister of the late John F Kennedy and his brothers Bobby and Ted.
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. was especially worried that his daughter's behavior would bring about embarrassment and shame to the family and could possibly damage his political career.
In 1941, when Rosemary Kennedy was 23, doctors told Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. that a new neurosurgical procedure, a lobotomy, would help calm her mood swings and stop her occasional violent outbursts. He decided that his daughter should have the lobotomy performed, but did not inform his wife Rose until after the procedure was completed. At the time, relatively few documented lobotomies had been performed. James W Watts who carried out the procedure with Walter Freeman, described what happened:
"We went through the top of the head, I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surgical incision in the brain through the skull. It was near the front. It was on both sides. We just made a small incision, no more than an inch." The instrument Dr. Watts used looked like a butter knife. He swung it up and down to cut brain tissue. "We put an instrument inside," he said. As Dr. Watts cut, Dr. Freeman put questions to Rosemary. For example, he asked her to recite the the Lord's Prayer or sing God bless America or count backwards..... "We made an estimate on how far to cut based on how she responded." ..... When she began to become incoherent, they stopped.
After the lobotomy, it quickly became apparent that the procedure was not successful. Kennedy's mental capacity diminished to that of a two year old child. She could not walk or speak intelligibly and was considered incontinent.
Freeman traveled the country in a small motorhome he called the lobotomobile and performed his services as demonstrations to psychiatric hospitals and mental institutions as a great way to help the mentally ill.
Below is a Youtube link for a PBS documentary clip about Freeman
and a few pictures to look at
View attachment 11194 View attachment 11195 View attachment 11196 View attachment 11197 View attachment 11198
This was one sick puppy...still trust your psychiatrist?
As a course of treatment for mental disorders a lobotomy was often performed as a way of controlling the insane.
They were messy and often done to extremes,requiring brain surgery to remove connecting nerve fibers of the frontal lobe as a means to the end. Holes were drilled thru the patient's skull to gain access to the prefrontal cortex and the results varied widely. The procedure was actual brain surgery at first,requiring necessary anesthesia and prolonged healing associated with an invasive surgery method. Neuropsychiatrist Walter Freeman had an idea of using an icepick inserted past the eyeball near the nose to be driven with a common mallet to break a hole thru the socket bone into the prefrontal cortex using local anesthesia or even electroshock for an in office procedure, After breaching the skull,the icepick was inserted about two inched deep and moved to sever the nerve fibers from the frontal lobe to the rest of the brain. After being satisfied with the initial progress,the pick was inserted deeper and the method was repeated. At times,a patient was kept conscious and asked questions until they were no longer able to give proper answers,signifying that the work was complete.
As Dr.Freeman was more a showman than an actual doctor,he often did the operations with two icepicks at the same time. Mostly women got the lobotomies,but children as well. The females were lobotomized for post partum depression,behavior problems or just about anything a quack could come up with. The kids fell under the butchery for often nothing more than acting up as any normal kid might do. Of the 5,000 lobotomies that Freeman did,a rather interesting person who the good doctor was the guy chosen by Joe Kennedy to treat Rose Marie Kennedy,the sister of the late John F Kennedy and his brothers Bobby and Ted.
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. was especially worried that his daughter's behavior would bring about embarrassment and shame to the family and could possibly damage his political career.
In 1941, when Rosemary Kennedy was 23, doctors told Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. that a new neurosurgical procedure, a lobotomy, would help calm her mood swings and stop her occasional violent outbursts. He decided that his daughter should have the lobotomy performed, but did not inform his wife Rose until after the procedure was completed. At the time, relatively few documented lobotomies had been performed. James W Watts who carried out the procedure with Walter Freeman, described what happened:
"We went through the top of the head, I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surgical incision in the brain through the skull. It was near the front. It was on both sides. We just made a small incision, no more than an inch." The instrument Dr. Watts used looked like a butter knife. He swung it up and down to cut brain tissue. "We put an instrument inside," he said. As Dr. Watts cut, Dr. Freeman put questions to Rosemary. For example, he asked her to recite the the Lord's Prayer or sing God bless America or count backwards..... "We made an estimate on how far to cut based on how she responded." ..... When she began to become incoherent, they stopped.
After the lobotomy, it quickly became apparent that the procedure was not successful. Kennedy's mental capacity diminished to that of a two year old child. She could not walk or speak intelligibly and was considered incontinent.
Freeman traveled the country in a small motorhome he called the lobotomobile and performed his services as demonstrations to psychiatric hospitals and mental institutions as a great way to help the mentally ill.
Below is a Youtube link for a PBS documentary clip about Freeman
View attachment 11194 View attachment 11195 View attachment 11196 View attachment 11197 View attachment 11198
This was one sick puppy...still trust your psychiatrist?
