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A lobotomy or leucotomy is the practice of severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. The surgical procedure was often used to treat psychiatric disorders. Historically, patients of lobotomies were, immediately following surgery, often stuporous, confused, and incontinent. Some developed an enormous appetite and gained considerable weight. Seizures were another common complication of surgery. Emphasis was put on the training of patients in the weeks and months following surgery.
While lobotomies were used to treat many psychiatric disorders, this was done at the expense of the individuals personality and intellect. For example, following the operation, spontaneity, responsiveness, self-awareness, and self-control were reduced. The activity was replaced by inertia, and people were mostly left emotionally blunted and restricted in their intellectual range.[1]
Joseph Kennedy ordered a lobotomy on Rosemary Kennedy, in 1941 to "calm her mood swings", which left her permanently incapacitated.[2]
In December 1950, the Soviet Union's Ministry of Health banned lobotomies.[3]
References
- ↑ Partridge, Maurice (1950). Pre-frontal leucotomy (pp. 470-71). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
- ↑ "Rosemary Kennedy".
- ↑ Order 1003 (9 December 1950), vol. 20(1) (1951) (Russian: Приказ МЗ СССР 1003 (9 декабря 1950)). Невропатология и психиатрия [Neuropathology and Psychiatry].