Prefrontal Lobotomy in Chronic Schizophrenia [Silent](Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital, 1944)

This film shows the improvement that can result from prefrontal lobotomy in chronic psychotics. Four patients are shown before and after the operation. Patients include one 25-year-old aggressive female, one 22-year-old aggressive male, one female who had been catatonic for five years, and one 26-year-old Ph.D. who has had catatonic lapses in the last three years. All patients appeared calmer and more sociable after surgery. Only the five-year catatonic female had to continue hospitalization after the lobotomy, although she had improved greatly. Filmed at the Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska.
Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: resource.nlm.nih.gov/86001165A
Learn more about the National Library of Medicine's historical audiovisuals program at: www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collectio...
#medicalhistory #lobotomy #psychotics

[@mctechie]

Lobotomised not for their inner torment, but for their outer inconvenience

[@marybethnelson1171]

exactly

[@MJW238]

Also from inner torment

[@microwavedmetal]

A lot of people also sought this out sooo…

[@TheLowest]

​@@MJW238That's like shooting someone to relieve them of a toothache

[@MJW238]

@@TheLowest No it’s not. And people remove teeth for toothaches.

[@CatsRule1001]

This is terrifying to watch honestly. I hope those people had some semblance of joy in life, but seeing their dead eyes and fake smiles post surgery just.. it's one of the few truly horrific things I've seen

[@kcm4321]

what's sadder is the fact they've been infantilized. the smiles are genuine because they've literally been dumbed down.

[@awright119021]

The first lady certainly looked joyful after the surgery.

[@dienivaca2473]

Pretty sure they were much happier after the surgery though. They looked they would be better of dead before

[@user-cl4ns8md2k]

@@awright119021 она впала в детство и отупела. У неё детская дурашливость появилась.

[@jacobkontogiorgis6227]

need

[@YossiaNorth]

For these four patients especially chosen as success stories, there were at least 30 turned into plants by the lobotomy.

[@AnonYmous-ry2jn]

You can tell even this is no success story. It's very obvious she has real brain damage, Severely diminished intelligence. These "doctors" are barbarians. They reduced her to a toddler.

[@mooseminddayan4650]

Come now, even current treatments (anti-psychotics) can turn people into plants.

[@stanallport6746]

there was no other treatment..doctors tried to help, not hurt them. your stats are wrong.

[@iSpart2299]

@@stanallport6746 Who is you?

[@strajkz]

@@stanallport6746 the stats are not wrong, they're correct, intent doesn't matter against numbers, could mean all the good in the world amputating an infected leg instead of treating it, still makes it a wrong procedure if the infection could had been treated differently.

[@firthm2]

The last patient probably had PTSD from his time in the army. Doctors treated it with electric shocks and a lobotomy. OMFG.

[@mariovegas5699]

Believe science, right?

[@spoongeyboob]

Imagine getting drafted against your will at 18 and coming home at 19 to a padded cage to wait for your lobotomy because you have ptsd flashbacks

[@firstthings_first9828]

Electric shock therapy surprisingly has its benefits. Especially nowadays. It’s still practiced and has been more refined obviously. It has been proven to be successful. It’s far more successful than lobotomies ever have been.

[@spoongeyboob]

@@firstthings_first9828 The electric shocks are much more humane and technologically advanced now. They give you pain meds for the cramping and put you under local anesthesia, also know exactly where to target the brain. Only downside is moderate memory loss, but yes, it works very well to treat severe depression that doesn't respond well to antidepressants.

[@combat618]

@@mariovegas5699 yeah cuz science get better from Time to time.. not like religious people trying exorcism on schizophrenics or bipolar people😂😂

[@necasperaterent29386]

I love the phrase "showing aggressive, antagonistic behavior in seclusion quarters." Gee, I wonder why that is? It's only the people that tortured him with electroshocks and kept him secluded like an animal...

[@blacksabbath6227]

ECT is not torture, please don't talk about things you are ignorant of.

[@Marco_My_Words]

ECT is still done today, but not as frequent as back then. It has been scientifically proven to work. The electric shocks are also administered only under anesthesia. The reason why it looks like they are awake and in pain is because the facial muscles naturally contract during the shock. The patient does not notice the shock because he/she is not awake. The therapy is supposed to supercharge the neurons, resulting in a controlled seizure, causing adaptive changes in brain chemistry, which reverse the symptoms of some mental disorders. It is mainly used on people with severe depression and some other mental health disorders who cannot take medication.

[@patricia1333]

@@Marco_My_Words I agree, Marco. And I think the most important thing too is to realize that these days ECT is done as an almost last resort - and more likely Deep Brain Stimulation will be done first, as those are both for highly treatment-resistant psychiatric cases. I generally view Insulin Shock Therapy as the far more barbaric method, putting people in a diabetic coma for days or weeks. With regards to lobotomy… it’s barbarous and honestly should be considered the same as murder. So often the patients were awake during the procedure because the doctors were trying to locate the right parts of the prefrontal cortex to damage. Just read about Rosemary Kennedy - the doctor had her sing in the operating room until he found the part of her brain related to it, then basically scrambled those parts. She was a vegetable after that.

[@Dynamatrix1973]

No he was acting like that before electric shocks. Electroshocks we're used to try to improve behavior. Last resort is a lobotomy.

[@ratpark5008]

​@@blacksabbath6227Yes ECT can be. You should witness the dread that some patients threatened with that procedure feel. Also it can be used as a threat by cruel nursing staff to recalcitrant patients.

[@patronsaintofpoison]

I am schizophrenic, and now that I see this, I would rather have all my episodes of wandering around with no concept of "reality" rather than sitting there smiling like an idiot

[@ZaraKendall]

right :( a lobotomy is the closest thing to taking someone's soul, turning them into a shell of a person without any personality :(

[@VarietyGamerChannel]

This was done to make life easier for those around the afflicted individual, chiefly family and nursing staff looking after them. On the upside the dumber you are the happier you are and the psychotic episodes tend to stop when you have less brain to work with. No doubt induced brain damage of this kind made the patients happier, less scared and more indulgent.

[@dienivaca2473]

@@VarietyGamerChannel I agree as much as it disgust me, I see patients actually look much happier than they were before procedure and their quality of life has definitely improved

[@triopical6884]

@@dienivaca2473 but they aren't the person that was in the skull anymore

[@Dynamatrix1973]

Very few people are diagnosed with schizophrenia so I don't believe you.

[@goingunder2548]

Being born in this world is such a dangerous and risky thing in and of itself. You just have to hope you have a ‘normal’ brain and that the people taking care of you don’t irreversibly damage it through abuse anyway.

[@nmc1859]

Amen ❤🙏

[@TheSaubzable]

Jesus is Lord

[@mariepennington1779]

Very true goingunder

[@ari_valentine]

This is more terrifying than any horror movie.

[@Carol-qv3mk]

Couldn't agree more.

[@clarejennings5049]

What sucks about the "successful" lobotomy's, is that they are infantized. The "unsuccessful" lobotomy's usually left them animalistic, vacant, or unpredictable from what I remember. Imagine having a wonderful life and then having it taken away from you by a lobotomy. Thats scary shit.

[@MrTruckerf]

Nobody having a wonderful life was given a lobotomy. It was the last resort, usually to help those caring for the patient.

[@xynfinity]

@@MrTruckerf xD

[@AlphaFlight]

They all were already different. I know some assholes today that could use it

[@marcoamadori3705]

​@@AlphaFlightThis is not human it should never be used

[@johnmanning5568]

*lobotomies. No apostrophe is required.

[@lee-annek6969]

cooperative patient? ya'll turned him into a flippin vegetable

[@jadinamber]

I'd probably be aggressive, resistive, and antagonistic too if you constantly electrocuted me then kept me tied up for a year straight because I got mad at you. Petty comment aside, the videos on this channel are so incredibly fascinating and insightful - Also the change in the 50 year old woman was actually quite incredible. She really seemed like her own person. Probably the most "ready to leave" out of all of them

[@presidentofallfoodnice8113]

Bruh.

[@thomasceneri867]

Nonsense

[@vet-7174]

Bullshit

[@FilthFartHole]

​@@nehresnikdy9569She's looking for a sausage to slobber over.

[@sabbat3870]

@@nehresnikdy9569 Do you think jesus mazsturebates with the holes in his hands?

[@bunnygirl2448]

No “cure” it just makes them more “manageable” so it’s ultimately to provide “convenience” to the caretakers by making them more docile

[@Coryiodine]

Whats sad is they thought this looked good. Imagine the cases and footage they didnt even use because they didnt think itd look as good and every single one of the people before the operations looked drugged out of their minds.

[@p4our587]

They may not have even cared how it looked? It wasn't their lives that became locked up mentally. Cruel people. … and who could say anything?

[@Coryiodine]

​​​​​@@p4our587 of course they cared how it looked. This entire video was a propaganda piece to popularize the act..why would they not care? Someone edited this thing, called it a film and everything. And this shit is well done for the time, it had a budget. Why would they bother doing any of it if they didn't care

[@p4our587]

@@Coryiodine - they cared to document it. Ask any of the patients if they cared whether they were sick or not? If the procedure was at all for the wellbeing of the patients to have a quality life? This wasn't really my argument… as I was kinda being sarcastic because of the treatment against the patients will as they constantly antagonized them until after the procedure to which they said there was no antagonistic behavior? Duh… take away the lady putting things in your face constantly… poof… behavior gone! … but, now… F it! Did they care? Really? How much care went into separating a portion of the brain from itself? Without knowing long term effects… how much care went into damage control? Was audio around at that time? It sure the hell was! It had been out almost 20yrs at that time! Some propaganda that was to have NO SOUND!

[@p4our587]

@@Coryiodine -… and if you are a well established reader, you might notice where is said… "they MAY NOT have even cared how it looked?" Which probably means… I DIDN'T SAY THAT THEY DIDN’T CARE!

[@Coryiodine]

@@p4our587 chill out. My original comment was saying they thought this film made the procedure look good. Not the patients. So when you said they may not have cared how it looked I figured you were talking about the procedure and film, not the patients. Obviously, they didn't care about the patients all that much. And for the future, using a ton of unnecessary capital letters will make you look like you've had a lobotomy.

[@cao0323]

I wonder if any of these people actually felt better or if it was like being trapped in your own head, the procedure forcing a smile on your face…or like your body is there but your soul is gone. Lights are on but no one’s home.

[@Emily-cw7tj]

I also wonder if they are still alive today don't you wonder that too?

[@moosehead1183]

Probably good there was no sound, so we couldn't hear the perfect sense the patient might have been making, before they stole her mind.

[@TheYokaiRadio]

THIS 👌🏼👌🏼

[@zcp0724]

"At times sarcastic and irritable" - hmm, sounds like me. I hope they don't lobotomize me because of it.

[@andreal6735]

I think she was an introvert and didn’t like ppl. I don’t get why that needed to be fixed?

[@Willie6785]

Incredible how they word the patient as having "resistive behavior" even though they're constantly trying to move them by force.

[@matt8043]

Keep in mind these are only the patients where it was "successful" most of them had severe brain damage after the operation and became a vegetable

[@bentzenfabio]

EXACTLY 😥😭😱

[@huzaifastriker762]

Vegetables means !?

[@sketchy275]

​@@huzaifastriker762 probably that you just... Exist. You dont think, you dont speak alot, you just.... Are there. Exist. Maybe eat and drink from time to time, smile like a idiot. But other than that. Just.... Exist. An npc you could say. Basically the failed lobotomy patients became npcs. And had severe brain damage.

[@HellAndDamnation]

​@@huzaifastriker762 a person becoming a vegetable typically don't engage with the world around them at all ; they lose their ability to communicate, walk, eat, etc. They tend to stare into the distance or around them without seeming to recognise anything.

[@bison8745]

"cooperative,has lost all antagonism" I mean yeah,you took out his personality,his invidualism and what makes him a person. He's basically a zombie. It's so creepy to watch.

[@smart.but.stupid]

Dude, you're literally calling mental issues a "personality" and "individualism". You're also being in the wrong here, implying that the man didn't need any sort of help and was fine as he was.

[@KatBambi]

@@smart.but.stupid Imagine defending lobotomies, and then telling someone else that they are in the wrong. Apparently your name really does stand true. Someone can have a mental illness, and still be an entire person outside of it as well. Individuals with Schizophrenia are also full people, and have an entire personality and presence of self _outside_ of their disorder. The fact that you either don't know this, can't see this, or both is actually the problem. In addition to that, it is *incredibly* ableist to claim that a person's disorder or illness makes up the entirety of who they are, or their personality. Disabled people are actually _full people_ as well, despite what you may, or may not think. Lobotomies in no way helped or solved mental illness or disorders, they simply reduced the person down to their most basic parts in the most barbaric way possible, meaning they took apart their brain (in a way), and forcefully made them into what was essentially children, in the bodies of adults. They _did_ take away all personality and individualism, _outside_ of any other mental difficulties that were also going on, because they took away most, if not all at times, higher function within the individual's brain, hence their personality and everything that makes them who they are. Lobotomies weren't help, they were a torture that then created a prison of the individuals own mind that they were unable to escape from. These people weren't happy before because they were being tortured, and they only seem happy after because they are no longer who they once were and know nothing more than what they are being told to do. They don't help people, they only create puppets that then need help doing the most basic of tasks for the rest of their, usually quite short, life. Be better, and develop better takes. People are people, regardless of the strife their brain or body goes through.

[@qaezka]

@@KatBambi спасибо вам, вы человечны

[@KatBambi]

@@qaezka 💕 thank you :)

[@marcoamadori3705]

​@@KatBambithank you

[@AndromedaChace]

I'm amazed that the 50 year old woman actually looked functional and "quicker" when everyone else seemed slowed down. Makes me wonder what sort of variations in the operation occured since it seems like it was often a literal blind stab at change.

[@the_grand_inquisitor2511]

Yes I often times wonder if it’s the operation itself that is barbaric, or was it simply due to lack of knowledge of how to perform such an operation, that messed people up

[@elstongunn4277]

@@the_grand_inquisitor2511 As in most procedures, it depends on the individual. Absolute precision in placing the instrument through the orbital socket, and then knowing exactly how far back and forth to move the instrument to detach the lobe without detaching other parts of the brain was not always achieved.

[@bradthegigachad7120]

Yeah it almost seems like the procedures weren’t precise and preformed quickly and hastily. So some retained a semblance of a soul and for others not so much. Really unfortunate. We should all be glad we were born in this timeline.

[@TumblinWeeds]

Yes, I think from that woman, you can see why they kept doing the lobotomies. Once in a while there’d be a success case like that in a patient otherwise incurable at the time. Someone who seemed happy, quick, affable, and able to care for themselves or even work. Of course, they didn’t have brain imaging, or even solid understanding of brain regions. The surgeries were so variable for the same reason they tried it at all-it was a blind shot to make things better. For “doctors” with little understanding of the brain and even less understanding of mental illness, the lobotomy at best cured the incurable, and at least made them easier to care for.

[@jackfrost4538]

I'm thinking they got the "Before and After" videos backwards..

[@chaseSCZ]

As someone with schizophrenia, (diagnosed in 2017) I'm very glad I did not live back in those days

[@markae0]

Imagine you lived in a time when schizophrenia did not exist? As in before it was invented. There is no test for it. Blood, brain, bacteria or virus.

[@RyannLagattuta]

❤

[@Darkxangel08]

That one man had severe PTSD from war. 😢

[@stanallport6746]

thank you, Doctor.

[@moosehead1183]

Cooperative and pleasant after your ability to think was taken away.

[@Furstyy]

Makes you wonder what people will look back on in 50-100 years and think “wow I can’t believe they did that”

[@HellAndDamnation]

Chemical straitjackets, probably. (not sure how you say that in English, sorry if that's the wrong term)

[@bootswithfur2106]

Factory farms for sure

[@stinky-smelly]

Conversion therapy and sedation for acting out in mental hospitals (the other person called it a chemical straightjacket, in my mental hospital they called it the booty shot)

[@schizophrenic_rambler]

This is like the found VHS tape horror, but real

[@johnbrown1290]

Barbaric and disgusting.

[@fakenuggets]

The second guy made me so sad

[@Emily-cw7tj]

Why?

[@J4MMUS]

Look at his eyes after the operation, and tell me what you don't understand about someone finding it sad @Emily-cw7tj

[@Emily-cw7tj]

@@J4MMUS oh that's why sorry I thought they meant something else like their body language or something. I wasn't looking hard enough.

[@abouttime5000]

Severe schizophrenia was a living nightmare for these and others. To fear being attacked every waking moment or to hear voices instructing them to flee, kill, attack or confront. The alternative to the surgery being restraining, medicated and institutionaliized.

[@terreciakennedy3265]

I'd rather be medicated. Medication causes the same zombie like behavior as removing part of the brain. This procedure has killed people.

[@stanallport6746]

i agree.. everything else was tried.. they were living in hell before lobotomy.

[@noolsoov8374]

@@stanallport6746 except… lobotomies were done on more than just schizophrenic people. The criteria of eligibility varied immensely during the 40s. Women who were seen as “sexually devious” were eligible for a lobotomy. Autistic or intellectually challenged children. Prisoners who were seen as uncooperative. Veterans suffering from PTSD. Minorities facing segregation and oppression. All of these groups having been forced into a lobotomy. Since the majority of these are often performed against one’s will. Do some research.

[@TumblinWeeds]

@@noolsoov8374no one’s saying it’s a good procedure. Just that there was no better alternative at the time, if you didn’t have a loving family to care for you. If you got institutionalized, “treated” or “medicated” for any of these conditions, it’s hard to say whether you would prefer that to the lobotomy. The blatant abuse in these institutions is also well known while likely not nearly documented enough. These patients were treated like lab rats by people who didn’t care or didn’t know better, with no family and friends, only fear and constraint. They would never have had a chance in this era.

[@Sophocles13]

This, sadly, is the price of progress. I'm just glad we are where we're at now instead of this. In a hundred years they'll look at our practices today as brutish and barbaric too. If we get that far that is...

[@terreciakennedy3265]

No procedure being done today is more barbaric as lobotomy. Smh

[@blacksabbath6227]

I wish we could go back. It seems more effective than our current way of dealing with these people.

[@blacksabbath6227]

@zarazoostra Pacifying schizos seems like a valuable contribution to society to me

[@dinoaur3]

@@blacksabbath6227 If only it were possible to legally pacify people like you.

[@musicloverchicago437]

Now medical professionals are doping people with hormones and cutting off their genitalia. We've traded one horrible problem for another.

[@scottbrandts610]

Prior to operation: Staring blankly like a stunned mullet... Post-operation: Staring blankly like a stunned mullet... Behold, ladies and gentlemen - the new-world wonders of brain-butchering, to no advantage whatsoever!

[@BlackRiverBay]

"Now friendly and cooperative"

[@MynicknameisViolet]

Sure would be great to at least read the captions, KZbin. Taking away the sound wasn't a goof move

[@shineisland7447]

Truly disturbing, not knowing the background, if I wound up there I might act like her if I was put there against my will and held. Thank God I was born when I was.

[@feralbluee]

how awful this is. they’re almost zombies. she was so expressive before. now, just not there. the “doctor” who introduced this treatment, started treating children. one little girl was 4 y.o. it’s sickening. (i believe that was the beginning of the end of his “treatments”. ) :/

[@AlphaFlight]

More difficult and problematic for normal people you mean

[@caissa222]

The introduction of lobotomies was very beneficial. Not to the patients, silly, but to psychiatrists and other psychiatric staff. Patients were easier to manage. Shock treatment was quickly adopted as it created effects similar to a lobotomy. It was even called an electrical lobotomy. Psychotropic drugs introduced in the 1950s also produced effects similar to a lobotomy. Since then public scrutiny of psychiatry has increased and psychosurgery (lobotomies etc) has been renamed psychiatric neurosurgery and electroshock has been renamed electro convulsive therapy. And lobotomies are generally still legal.

[@bisibisbi]

The second patient, young male, after the "treatment" acts like my FIL when he got dementia in his early 80s. And I wonder, if some of the female patients also had to endure physical/se..ual abuse.

[@nmc1859]

I'm sure they did, unfortunately 😒💔

[@REPDC4LIFE]

they all hang their heads forward slightly

[@rebekahlikesmusic2723]

Yeah it's sad and creepy

[@blackswan1983]

probably from a headache

[@bigmacsauce1953]

It's what I call the "dope slouch" You see it a lot with mentally disabled individuals

[@doraexplora9046]

sooooo they turned all these pretty normal people into complete vegetables because they hated being treated like animals. It was a self fulfilling prophesy. No wonder it went on so long. They kept making patience for themselves. The Cabal are a great bunch of people really.

[@markae0]

self fulfilling prophesy. Fear of the future, must medicate the present, drugs which destroys reason (brain function) and make the prophesy come true.

[@elstongunn4277]

Many wars so severely affected returning soldiers, that the psychological damage and fallout extended for generations. You can almost map it out: when a war was battled, and then how many years afterwards if there is a spike in murders; serial killers; violence by the children of those troubled parents and home life instability and upheaval. Especially those Jewish immigrants who survived the Nazi concentration camps of WWII. They felt guilty for being “victims,” and being so hated by a nation and people who wanted them wiped off the face of the earth. Or they experienced “survivors guilt” for being the only one of their family to survive. Many didn’t want to talk about it afterwards, wouldn’t discuss it with their children, friends, co-workers. They kept it bottled up inside - hidden - like it never happened and they wanted to forget all of it. But, of course, it always showed in other ways, in how as parents they treated their own children, fears they passed on, or they wouldn’t show love or close attachment to their own children. The trauma was passed on for generations.

[@FalonYates]

I feel like this could use the additional context that, in many cases (likely including some or all of these), "improvement" involved the person being reduced to a childlike demeanor and intellect; Walter Freeman apparently referred to the lobotomy as "surgically induced childhood". Even without sound, you can see a marked difference in the first woman that is not simply a removal of aggression. Her significant weight gain may also have been a result of the procedure, which could result in increased hunger. The object of this procedure was not to restore the person they had been before their illness, but to make them cooperative and non-aggressive, even at the cost of their personalities.

[@stevenhulbert7540]

Being a schizophrenic she had no understanding that the doctors removed her frontal lobe after applying electro shock therapy. They actually expected a change in behavior after shocking her and isolating her? Have seen many films like this, she didn't need to gain 100 pounds and she looks "vacant" but that was the prevailing wisdom of the time. The 22 yr old male was a walking zombie even though the aggressive behavior was curtailed.

[@kellymarieapplebee]

I'm astonished by all the comments that express their "amazement" and the patient, the female in particular as "doing better"...............the moment I saw her tragic transformation I gasped, how does anybody think she's better, they've literally turned a beautiful human being into a performing ape, even her posture is abnormal, no natural facial expression or real sense of reality, its horrendous.

[@lemon9734]

At 10:15 the nurses smiling as the women is in clear agony and scared while they sit there, laugh and smile as they haul her away. That’s true evil. The part that upsets me the most tho is how they would only give anesthetics if the patient was fully cooperative. I know stuff was way different back then but there’s no way they didn’t know how much agony a person would be in. It’s like they liked the power and got off to it or something. They didn’t view people with illness as people.

[@ayomidel]

sounds like Nazis

[@williamrasengan]

Video cameras were rare back then, that's why people almost always smiled.

[@Stephanie-we5ep]

they would use a *local* anesthetic if the patient/victim cooperated otherwise it was general

[@askquestionsplz]

If this was considered success i would hate to see the failures

[@ladyE602]

There was a lot of failures

[@Medietos]

The fact that they treat some patients inconsiderately, abusively even sadistically: The female schizophrenic with her bad, stiff kyphosis, forcing her to straighetn and look up, which is impossible with the stiffness and probable Liver dysfunction, and the Phil Dr manwith stiff body and neckpushing his head down despite impossible and without any support underhis neck, and lifting his whole body by his neck! Which is extra exposed through that same statically tense muscles. What if he had osteoporosis and they broke his neck, what if they harmed his cervical spine, which is so important and vulnerable to injury! Exploitatively endangering and humiliating them just for the video. And whatever they do to them off camera. I felt uneasy bu the stiff smiles of those forcing women, making the patient straighetn up and undress her. Forgive them , for they know not what they do, Father..

[@ladyE602]

They do know what they do

[@debbiezajicek]

Seems as if this was just a way to make the patient “behave” So sad

[@Dynamatrix1973]

It's either a lobotomy or put them in a padded room for the rest of their lives.

[@marcoamadori3705]

So where is freedom?these people werent criminals

[@Courtpie443]

Did we ever stop to think about what these Doctors really did to get those patients to how they were before their decision to do a labotomy. I bet all these people are HEAVILY drugged up before undergoing the surgery..

[@fups1]

So are antipsychotic medications considered chemical lobotomies since they block dopamine receptors?

[@HikerChick2]

Probably

[@ThomasBoyce5000]

More or less

[@terreciakennedy3265]

They stopped doing these surgeries around the time that they invented those drugs, so I would imagine that the two had or would have similar effects.

[@twindrill2852]

At least they aren’t as permanent as lobotomies…

[@sarax4493]

Not really. Lobotomies did way more than block dopamine receptors. Chemical lobotomy does exist tho, but it’s rarely used.

[@Lancerandduck7]

People are talking about the shocks being bad also, but ECT can actually be highly effective and is still widely used today. They were probably not as good at it back then, and it should be one of the later resorts for treatment, but there are many, many, many ECT therapies that are highly effective. Its the lack of targeting back then that wasnt so great, but its no different than modern deep-brain stimulators, magnetic stimulators, nerve stimulators, etc. Zapping is an excellent treatment, and while they probably overused it and were not working with the tech we have now, is in and of itself not torture.

[@natatatat_]

to me it’s the fact that the descriptions for why they needed lobotomies isn’t that serious.. while they’re getting poked, prodded and touched consistently in this video, as a person with autism and sensory issues, i’d be getting annoyed and pissed of by it too. it’s so sad to me that this was a form of “treatment” for decades while so many people lost their sense of self from it. i wish they all got the love and treatment they deserved and not this torment

[@zlomana]

What do you mean? those people were literally diagnosed with schizophrenia, the symptoms of which are obvious in the video, few of them with catatonic form of it, and all the touching are for demonstrating their inability to move properly. Before writing something, cant you at least read captions please. They seemed friendly and cooperative, but aren't all healthy people are like that by default?

[@user-xx9uc7uk6t]

Good video.

[@_aconite_cj_]

They prolly killed the "emotions" part of their brain, or at least a lil bit of it, idk, this was justifiable bacc in the day I guess

[@landrywalther9616]

Boy I wish there was audio on this. The true horror would be exposed, if the video doesn't already.

[@norberto169]

I have schizophrenia and this was interesting to see how they treated people with schizophrenia i hope one day ill be cured

[@tinkletink1403]

just interesting ...not horrifying?

[@rebeccabrown3898]

Remember, Joe Kennedy (JFK’s father) ordered that to be done to his own daughter.

[@whatsthekeytothekeykat]

Kind of makes you think, 1944, what a time to be alive. All the new technologies no other generation had, advances in medicine, daily life routines were different than other generations, post war. And with that a whole new way for the human mind to react and adjust to those changes, from being raised by those who never had it before either. Along with the advances in mental health, and steps backwards, for example the lobotomy for people who otherwise nowadays would not have had one. Sometimes its like those studying the crazies were just as crazy

[@smokie651]

Don't forget sexism and racial segregation and mostly autistic people were unfairly locked up in these institutions and forgotten about

[@Jendax]

watching this with everywhere at the end of time in the background is horrifying

[@vandarkholme8548]

The 22 years old guy looks a bit better in the end, probably because they stopped tying him down and giving him drugs in high dosages. I really wish it had sound, really hard to judge by their body language alone.

[@Aa_mdl]

Omg this is brutal fucking brutal

[@darronsanders9916]

Despite the fact all of this was done in an effort to better lives with no malice intent, so many people are ready to cast these medical practices as a form of barbarism and torture. This was medical modernity and not some sadist cult.

[@nadMoZzzg]

you know you can't just say you have "good intentions" and continue torturing and maiming people ?

[@michelleme5594]

I would love to know the whole story of there lives and hear their voices.

[@Joi_Robb]

Sometimes I’d think I’d love a lobotomy so that no more of this anxiety and pain can phase me. Ignorance truly is bliss when you’re a mess.

[@michaelh3075]

Except that isn't what it does. It just prevents that anxiety from reaching your decision making faculties. So you can't do anything about it.

[@foxxx0053]

Can someone give me more info on patient case 4? i want to know who he is

[@nadMoZzzg]

they have the nerve to call it "help" and complain about the hostility of the patients🤦 pure evil

[@tufgbhw6986]

These ppl are monsters. They were saying ppl were antagonistic while they're being antagonized...... I saw no violent tendencies in any of them. It was horrifying with the 22 year old male, when they showed him after the lobotomy, he was just lifeless and the filmmaker is sitting their stroking his ego over it. A lot of the ppl that did lobotomies knew thorazine was in the making along with dozens of other antipsychotics and still tried to make this a "thing" anyways because it was a lot more expensive. They are pure evil.

[@cynthiahawkins2389]

Thank God no one uses insulin therapy, lobotomy and only rarely shock therapy now.

[@hollyofhori]

Antipsychotic drugs are designed to do the same slowly

[@bradthegigachad7120]

Oh god yeah I think the insulin therapy shit was worse based on what I’ve read up on it. Even riskier and dangerous than a lobotomy. Electroshock is still used (with consent) nowadays and some people find it to be beneficial.

[@user-xx9uc7uk6t]

Gooood video.

[@freudinator]

haunting

[@Magical_Makeup_UK]

So they made her more controllable basically

[@chezzmix]

I wonder how long the lived post op. I imagine they didn’t live long or attempted not to live at some point

[@louisskulnik7390]

Rosemary Kennedy lived 60+ years as a stumbling vegetable. Howard Dully is still alive. Also I saw a video about a WW2 airman who flew 34 missions in B-17 bombers. The VA drilled both sides of his head. He died in 2020 at the age of 97. The old guy lived alone, drove, etc.

[@nataliesksksksk9956]

I don't think people realize anybody could be capable of working at a hospital like that and treating the patients that way during that time period. Humans love being superior to others and having power over others. We aren't as empathetic as we think.

[@kristh6969]

Hindsight is 20 20. So we know what this truly did to these folks. Why it was done. Little info mixed with 'great reviews' like these videos must have made folks think it really helped. That it magically turned those unhappy into happy, thriving individuals. Awful.

[@blairsterling6141]

Too bad there is no audio. Almost a waste of time, without sound. Plus, in film, no date is seen, or year. Re submit film with audio and date of filming.

[@TheYokaiRadio]

Past was the worst but whats even worse is the fact we havent come nearly as far on the schizophrenia front as they have with PTSD. Not far enough...

[@paulaward2075]

Where is the sound?

[@smeyely]

I was born in the wrong generation been real quiet since this dropped

[@blairsterling6141]

Psychiatry has done much harm, since becoming a profession. Guilty of killing millions and harming millions more.

[@batmandrstrange1245]

ya like isnt a person with a mental illness suffering with some sort of unhappiness and uncomfortableness? ive been comfortable and happy my whole life so am i the opposite of mentally ill?

[@cockus123]

Sinister

[@Bakersdozen41]

This video was so creepy to me.

[@mrayu3147]

After the lobotomy surgery they patients are like Zombies 😢🙄

[@gailsnow8722]

SAD the way they are put on display!!!

[@CardinalStandard]

That poor soul!

[@vincenza2319]

What's sad is these patients probably had mental illness that today could be treated with meds and/or therapy. The 55 yr old woman was probably a depressed abused housewife and was shut down...Specially after all the shock treatments they were all getting.

[@AgnesBalla9602]

And also they mentioned: many course of shock therapy… I don’t think those improved their conditions either.. So great we have much better options: newer meds and therapy

[@peach7210]

Seems to me the only goal the medical community had was COMPLIANCE and self-care to make it easier for them, not the patient.

[@lotuspocus76312]

9:07 Her progress amazes me the most.

[@stevek8]

That guy was just pissed because that nurse was making fun of his skinny arms.

[@254967conwell]

Doesn't look to me as if a lobotomy cured anything. Just made them more manageable and the hospital staff job easier

[@skeetermcswagger0U812]

Seems as if they turned the second lady into the first lady. The human brain is such an amazing organ,... They caused such significant changes with a primal act (literally a stab in the dark!) and completely changed the function and awareness without killing them,.... Even though who knows how many participants if you want to call them that died or got turned in to complete vegetables.

[@elstongunn4277]

So I wonder what “successful outcomes” percentage these patients represent out of the total number of lobotomies this institution performed.

[@caiterosemusicofficial]

what those two women did to that poor catatonic woman, the way they mishandle her very roughly and undress her on camera is truly disgusting. The entire thing is gross but this scene in particular really got to me. Despicable.

[@lailaplaysdbd4004]

Wait...so the lobotomy didn't have positive effects?

[@user-od6tx9ny3o]

BARBARIC!

[@Northsea_007]

This was so EVIL! The poor woman at the beginning of the video seemed to have lost her soul.... And weight gain of 100 lbs!!!! She was obese after that!!! Freedman was such an evil, demonic monster!!!

[@TimFromLA]

Lobotomies. This has got to be the most brutal time in history. With medication and CBT, people with schizophrenia are doing well.

[@gatekeeper1406]

This is somehow more disturbing without audio

[@lydialoud]

This is how you make undercover zombies. I've had electroconvulsive therapy many times myself for extreme depression, it's totally different now compared to the 1950s Now you just go to sleep for 20 minutes after the anesthetic and wake up a little confused, kinda like a very short term hangover

[@michaelmichael2382]

Did the therapy help you

[@danielclee4148]

Like using a shotgun to kill a sparrow.

[@RedVRCC]

psych meds may not be perfect and may occasionally produce some crazy adverse effects but it's far, _far_ better than... *_this_*

[@Tylermaddox1911]

You can see why they thought it was a good idea at one point they thought they were helping.