CHILLING!
Who Knew that the breakthrough medical procedure of the late 1940's would be condemned as barbaric and ineffective within a decade? This PBS documentary is mesmerizing in its telling of not only the treatment of mental illness but the famed treator. Dr. Walter Freeman, at the time considered a pioneer and innovator in the treatment of mental illness, is believed to have been a man who truly wanted to help patients of this disease during a time when America's asylums could only house them in deplorable conditions with no hope for cure or release.
I really enjoyed how this documentary gave the history and circumstances that culminated in Dr. Freeman's decade of free reign to practice Prefrontal Orbital Lobotomy on mental patients with the blessings of the medical profession. His lobotomy procedure was hailed so convincingly as a cure-all by reputable medical organizations (Johns Hopkins) and print media that Joseph Kennedy, the millionaire father of future president John F. Kennedy, asked for and authorized Dr. Freeman to perform his groundbreaking procedure on daughter Rosemary Kennedy. Rosemary would never be the same.
You have to see this documentary to feel in your bones the chilling effects of the instruments and procedure Dr. Freeman used. A tool that looked like an icepick was inserted right above the eyeball under the eyelid near the upper nasal area. A small mallet was used to strike the icepick forcing it through bone and wedging it into the frontal lobe of the brain. The good doctor then moved the device left to right and up and down scrambling the membrane known as the Thalamus. Mind you Dr. Freeman came up with this procedure as a cost-effective alternative to his drilling holes in patient’s skulls and scooping at the Thalamus. The procedure could be done in four minutes flat.
And take a guess at what pharmaceutical drug helped end the reign of Dr. Freeman's brain scrambling procedure? Thorazine. Thorazine was initially marketed as the "chemical lobotomy."
Dr. Freeman's commitment to his beliefs as well as his drive for historical fame most likely blinded him to the reality of lobotomy as a failure. As for the American Medical profession, who at first backed then abandoned their support of Dr. Freeman, we as sufferers of all illnesses in America should be forewarned. When hearing of new groundbreaking medical procedures and medicines today we should stop, get the facts and then question those pushing the newly discovered breakthrough on us. It just may be a faster, cheaper way to treat the poor or those without healthcare. But the real question is does it work? The Horror!
Who Knew that the breakthrough medical procedure of the late 1940's would be condemned as barbaric and ineffective within a decade? This PBS documentary is mesmerizing in its telling of not only the treatment of mental illness but the famed treator. Dr. Walter Freeman, at the time considered a pioneer and innovator in the treatment of mental illness, is believed to have been a man who truly wanted to help patients of this disease during a time when America's asylums could only house them in deplorable conditions with no hope for cure or release.
I really enjoyed how this documentary gave the history and circumstances that culminated in Dr. Freeman's decade of free reign to practice Prefrontal Orbital Lobotomy on mental patients with the blessings of the medical profession. His lobotomy procedure was hailed so convincingly as a cure-all by reputable medical organizations (Johns Hopkins) and print media that Joseph Kennedy, the millionaire father of future president John F. Kennedy, asked for and authorized Dr. Freeman to perform his groundbreaking procedure on daughter Rosemary Kennedy. Rosemary would never be the same.
You have to see this documentary to feel in your bones the chilling effects of the instruments and procedure Dr. Freeman used. A tool that looked like an icepick was inserted right above the eyeball under the eyelid near the upper nasal area. A small mallet was used to strike the icepick forcing it through bone and wedging it into the frontal lobe of the brain. The good doctor then moved the device left to right and up and down scrambling the membrane known as the Thalamus. Mind you Dr. Freeman came up with this procedure as a cost-effective alternative to his drilling holes in patient’s skulls and scooping at the Thalamus. The procedure could be done in four minutes flat.
And take a guess at what pharmaceutical drug helped end the reign of Dr. Freeman's brain scrambling procedure? Thorazine. Thorazine was initially marketed as the "chemical lobotomy."
Dr. Freeman's commitment to his beliefs as well as his drive for historical fame most likely blinded him to the reality of lobotomy as a failure. As for the American Medical profession, who at first backed then abandoned their support of Dr. Freeman, we as sufferers of all illnesses in America should be forewarned. When hearing of new groundbreaking medical procedures and medicines today we should stop, get the facts and then question those pushing the newly discovered breakthrough on us. It just may be a faster, cheaper way to treat the poor or those without healthcare. But the real question is does it work? The Horror!
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