The Dark Legacy of Lobotomy in Psychiatry

MindHacks provided a link to a paper about the history of lobotomy.

I found this paragraph in the MindHacks piece rather interesting, if also both dismaying and revealing about humanity:

What it does illustrate is how a damaging and useless treatment could be perceived as helpful and compassionate by Freeman and, presumably, other doctors because of how docility and, in some cases, genuine reduced distress were valued above the person’s self-integrity and autonomy. (read more)

— just like treatment with neurotoxic drugs today…damn…

As I come back to myself I become more horrified at what the drugs dammed up inside of me. They stopped me from being me! Not allowing me to heal and further ingraining trauma. 

I saw hundreds of deadened and dulled spirits among the clients I worked with over the years as well. If it hadn’t been for my work I might not have ever figured out the enormity of what is going on. We are far too often stopping a natural growth and healing process in people who receive psychiatric diagnosis.

We are stunting and harming people in the name of medicine and psychiatry.

See: If I had remained med compliant

and  Everything Matters: a Memoir From Before, During and After Psychiatric Drugs  

and Monica’s story: the aftermath of polypsychopharmacology 

There is a post about Rosemary Kennedy and the lobotomy she got here on Beyond Meds.  Nobel Prize for Lobotomy and how Rosemary Kennedy is part of this story

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