By: JWBM
There have been significant cures and groundbreaking treatments in the history of the medical field. Some of them stumbled on by accident, while others took years and years of research with a collective team till a breakthrough occurred. Lobotomy, on the other hand, is something that started out as one man's hopeful popularization of a procedure to alleviate country-wide mental health issues that were in a state of desperation, to coming with tragic consequences and repercussions for a share of those involved.
Back in the mid-20s, the state of affairs of mental hospitals were hopeless for extreme cases ranging from agitated depression to psychosis. It was a common practice to hold people with debilitating mental disorders behind locked doors—or even strapped down—in these massive state run quarters away from the general public. It was a means to an end due to few changes being made to help alleviate the overall situation. Dr. Walter Freeman made such a visit to one hospital during this period and it affected him enough to want to take the bull by the horns. His maternal grandfather, William Keen, was a pioneer brain surgeon in the 1800s. Being a fresh, young doctor, Freeman also felt that he was destined to do something great from then on out.
Back in the 30s and 40s, it was considered in bad taste to question another doctor in the public eye. Instead of asking for advice or going through the proper channels, Freeman bypassed the red tape of his peers by going straight to the press to sell them a form of a miracle with lobotomy. It's a complex story with reasonings coming from all sides that reveal it may have been what some needed at that particular moment. According to a "Life" magazine article from 1946, mental hospitals were "a shame and a disgrace." These hospitals were overcrowded, underfunded, and understaffed. There were cases where the staff resorted to beatings to keep people in line. Some patients resorted to suicide from not being able to cope with their mental condition and their surroundings. However, the catch of Freeman's transorbital lobotomy was that it was a one-size-fits all procedure that didn't address the nuances of every patient and their specific state. Being a respected doctor at that time and walking through the door of a poor or segregated hospital meant there were no questions asked or even release forms signed. There's also no going back from the brain damage that it caused. Truth be told: it was never a good temporary fix, nor a successful permanent one either.
This is also a story about his obsession with this procedure being successful to the point of being blind to its pitfalls. He went from having a neurosurgeon and an anesthesiologist present, to then using an on-the-fly, cost-effective method where he held the patient down and tapped an ice pick into their frontal lobe with a hammer by way of their eye socket. This wasn't a practiced, well-defined medical procedure. It was essentially a roll of the dice that relied on some luck that things would be okay in the years to come. The mid-50s saw the first antipsychotic drug marketed. Then after, the medical community—that once lauded Freeman—were turning their backs on the man who now looks like nothing but a clean up henchman in a snazzy white coat.
This documentary is as tragic as it is informative. This sheds some light with different perspectives on not only this doctor's tale of success to failure, but also the state of mental health for the earlier part of the 20th century. Those looking for the entire history won't get it in the 50 minute run time, but that doesn't stop the documentary from delivering enough interviews and footage to put you there in some pivotal moments it was happening.
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link
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