Review Of Lobotomy By Walter Freeman

Freeman used this early procedures on patients that were stuffed in mental hospitals as guinea pigs for what he thought would be a cure to mental illness. Around this time, the only options for mental illness were about sedation. People were overdosed on insulin to push patients into hypoglycemic comas. They were also given metrozole which produced severe seizures. This, and electric shock therapy were thought to help sedate the patients. Freeman was running into the end of the road for his procedures, so he researched and found a new treatment for mental issues. Freeman cut the nerves between the frontal lobes to the thalamus. A few months after the first lobotomies, the patients relapsed. The patients experienced many side effects from the lobotomies.

After some time, people were starting to notice that the majority of lobotomy patients were vegetables, or had the functioning of a child. When the negative side effects were noted, people were less likely to use a lobotomy for treatment. Rosemary Kennedy had a lobotomy and went from being independent to needing full time care. Walter Freeman perfected the lobotomy. He started by cutting the heads open to get clear cuts to the margins between the frontal lobes and thalamus. It started with administering shock to leave the patient unconscious. He then used an ice pick to go behind the eyes to sever the frontal lobes of his patients. He became use to the fame of doing this procedure. He actually killed someone in Iowa because he moved the ice pick too far during a picture. It was found that Freeman was not having any more success with his new and improved