5 ms·
After Rosemary was mildly sedated, "We went through the top of the head," Dr. Watts recalled. "I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surg
by Borrible 3y ago
After Rosemary was mildly sedated, "We went through the top of the head," Dr. Watts recalled. "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 asked Rosemary some questions. For example, he asked her to recite the Lord's Prayer or sing "God Bless America" or count backward... "We made an estimate on how far to cut based on how she responded." When Rosemary began to become incoherent, they stopped.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Kennedy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Kennedy
- dav_Oz 3y agoIf you have a hard time understanding what type of rigor thinking guided this; one on-the-fly "theory" from Freeman is offered by the wiki article on lobotomy[0]: Walter Freeman coined the term "surgically induced childhood" and used it constantly to refer to the results of lobotomy. The operation left people with an "infantile personality"; a period of maturation would then, according to Freeman, lead to recovery. In an unpublished memoir, he described how the "personality of the patient was changed in some way in the hope of rendering him more amenable to the social pressures under which he is supposed to exist." He described one 29-year-old woman as being, following lobotomy, a "smiling, lazy and satisfactory patient with the personality of an oyster" who could not remember Freeman's name and endlessly poured coffee from an empty pot. When her parents had difficulty dealing with her behaviour, Freeman advised a system of rewards (ice cream) and punishment (smacks). [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobotomy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobotomy
- mynameishere 3y agoI like how lobotomies ended, not because the professionals decided to quit being barbaric, but because Thorazine got you the same results on a subscription basis.
- BossingAround 3y agoI'd take subscription to irreversible damage any day of the week, to be honest. At least you can stop taking Thorazine and return to your self.
- funnym0nk3y 3y agoThat's not entirely clear. Psychopharmacology changes the brain long term.
- galangalalgol 3y agoYeah, apparently stimulants for adhd also make some permanent changes to personality, generally in the direction desired by those choosing to take them. The question brought up is if now as then, the pressures of society bias that choice to coerce confirmity.
- unyttigfjelltol 3y agoA solid datapoint suggesting distrust of things medical. By no means the only one. Inane practices come in arrogant packages.
- brewtide 3y agoI have zero doubt we will look back at the current medication pushing for "results" in the future, as we do at the physical implementations of the past. AFAIK, we are pretty unsure how many medications actually work in the mental health field instead only seeing if they return 'results' similar to what we are originally aiming for.
- logbiscuitswave 3y agoA surprising amount of medication sheets say things like, “the mechanism of action for this drug is not understood”.
- at_a_remove 3y agoYeah, this and HAL 9000 doing the "Daisy Bell" routine are tied together in my mind.