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EXPLAINED: Before after lobotomy surgery patients photos | Vintage Vibes
In 1935, Portuguese doctor Egas Moniz learned of an experiment where removing the frontal lobes of two chimpanzees resulted in reduced violent behavior, making them more compliant. Those results triggered the doctor to try the experiment on humans.
Shortly after performing this procedure on unsuspecting patients suffering from mental illnesses, he published a paper demonstrating a method he believed to be an innovative way to treat such illnesses as schizophrenia and psychosis.
Today, Moniz is remembered for starting one of the most shameful and tragic procedures in medicine.
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When Was the Last Lobotomy Performed?
From 1945 to 1947, around 2,000 lobotomies were performed. However, the number skyrocketed to 18,000 after Moniz was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discovery in 1949.
The development of antipsychotic medications has been the salvation of patients who were next in line for more lobotomies before and after the results.
The final recorded lobotomy in the United States was performed by Dr. Walter Freeman in 1967, tragically resulting in the death of the patient.
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What Did Lobotomies Do?
There were many factors why this surgery was deemed acceptable by mental institutions back in the day, mainly because there was no medication or therapy effective enough to treat people who suffered from various mental illnesses. And with electroshock therapy being already in use, this invasive operation didn’t shock people. However, the misinformation and active campaigning for the effectiveness of lobotomy had a significant impact, too.
Walter Freeman helped popularize this procedure in the US, becoming one of the most hated doctors. With no surgical training, Freeman decided to change the operation, and instead of drilling holes in the skull, he stabbed the patient’s brain with an icepick through the eye socket.
Walter Freeman’s lobotomy was an updated method to the point where it only took him 12 minutes to perform it. He traveled around the country in a van called the Lobotomobile and had no problem performing it in non-sterile environments.
However, he and other doctors who performed this procedure often overlooked the gruesome side effects lobotomies caused, mainly focusing on the appearance of the patients and relieving the discomfort the illnesses had caused to their family members.
This attitude is highlighted in the lobotomy pictures that Freeman took of his patients. He used these before and after lobotomy photos as an argument in favor of the procedure. Scroll below to see the disturbing images.
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What do you think ?
Maria Rohlen 7 years ago
"... household pet ..." Over 50 % of the victims were women with no mental disorder but improper behaviour.
April Simnel 7 years ago
I just read about how Joe Kennedy, Sr. had this done to his daughter Rosemary. It was said that she was mentally slow; she wasn't as smart as her siblings. She may have had a learning disability. But the truth was she was willful and disobeyed her father. Rosemary liked a good time, Joe told her to knock it off, and she wouldn't. He was afraid she'd get "a bad reputation" that would tarnish the family's public image and future prospects. Joe went behind his wife Rose's back and had the procedure done to Rosemary. It succeeded in actually disabling her, though that wasn't the intention. She was put in an institution and hardly mentioned of again. Finally, Joe's sons could all run for public office as they grew older with no stain on the family name. Never mind Joe's bootlegging, cheating on Rose with numerous actresses, and stock market manipulation, and John's messing around with a spy while he was at college. All of THAT was fine, apparently. ::eyeroll::
Matt Richardson 7 years ago
That comment about "household pet" really bothers me... it's all sorts of wrong.
Maria Rohlen 7 years ago
"... household pet ..." Over 50 % of the victims were women with no mental disorder but improper behaviour.
April Simnel 7 years ago
I just read about how Joe Kennedy, Sr. had this done to his daughter Rosemary. It was said that she was mentally slow; she wasn't as smart as her siblings. She may have had a learning disability. But the truth was she was willful and disobeyed her father. Rosemary liked a good time, Joe told her to knock it off, and she wouldn't. He was afraid she'd get "a bad reputation" that would tarnish the family's public image and future prospects. Joe went behind his wife Rose's back and had the procedure done to Rosemary. It succeeded in actually disabling her, though that wasn't the intention. She was put in an institution and hardly mentioned of again. Finally, Joe's sons could all run for public office as they grew older with no stain on the family name. Never mind Joe's bootlegging, cheating on Rose with numerous actresses, and stock market manipulation, and John's messing around with a spy while he was at college. All of THAT was fine, apparently. ::eyeroll::
Matt Richardson 7 years ago
That comment about "household pet" really bothers me... it's all sorts of wrong.
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