Lobotomy’s Dark Past: What the Heck Happened & Rose Kennedy’s Story

Could you even imagine a “fix” for mental illness that literally scrambled someone’s brain? Sounds like a total horror movie. But for decades, this was real life, a hella dark chapter in lobotomy history, where doctors just cut into people’s minds trying to “fix” them. Desperate times, often chilling outcomes.

Why Lobotomies Were So Brutal

A lobotomy, plain and simple, was brain surgery. Surgeons either cut or outright removed nerve connections in the front part of your brain. The big idea? To “calm” patients. Make them less aggressive. Get them “happier.” Doctors promised it would turn folks into regular, useful people. In reality? Often, it made them into “living potted plants”—just unresponsive. Totally gone. We’ve got over two million such surgeries on record. The results? Rarely good.

How Lobotomy Got Popular (Disturbing!) in the 1930s

This insane technique blew up in the 1930s. Because guess what? A super messed-up trend was spreading. Fascist leaders, especially overseas in Europe, were gaining power. Folks with disabilities, or mental illnesses like schizophrenia, were called a “burden.” A cost to society. While some countries went straight for horrific extermination, others picked lobotomy. Saying it was a “nicer” choice. Hundreds of thousands suffered this. Minds altered. Spirits trashed. All under the banner of “ethical” help.

Early, Rough Methods and Disasters

The road to widespread lobotomy was full of wild experiments and tragic screw-ups. Folks long ago kinda figured brains and behavior were linked, but actual proof came later.

Phineas Gage. Remember him? The mid-19th century brought us his story. On September 13, 1848, a blasting accident drove a 103-centimeter-long, 3-centimeter-thick metal rod straight through his head. In one side, out the other. Everyone thought he was dead. Yet, he actually lived. Amazing! Gage lost an eye but looked okay on the outside. But inside? A whole other mess. He used to be a calm, happy foreman. Afterwards, he turned aggressive, totally erratic, always cussing. Gage’s huge personality change proved, totally, that parts of your brain controlled how you act. He died in 1860 from issues. And his particular case shook up the science world.

And another thing: By the late 1800s, some European scientists were trying out frontal lobe operations. Gottlieb Burckhardt, a psychoanalyst in Switzerland, did surgery on ten schizophrenic patients. His crude method? Lifting skull bits, drilling big holes, then cutting and pulling out parts of the frontal lobe. Four of those patients died. Six, however, folks said they got calmer. Less angry. Fewer hallucinations. Burckhardt’s work got noticed briefly. Then forgotten.

But then, the 1930s came along. Portuguese scientists António Egas Moniz and Almeida Lima brought the idea back. Moniz had a system: drill small holes in your temples, then use a metal knife to cut the frontal lobe. Lima, though, just shot alcohol into the front of the brain. To destroy tissue. Moniz actually snagged a Nobel Prize for his stuff, despite major issues. The world, thinking this was a big win for schizophrenia, started using what they did.

The American Extreme: Freeman, Watts, And The Ice Pick

This whole thing hit its worst point in the U.S., thanks to Dr. Walter Freeman and Dr. James Watts in 1935. Their method? Just disturbing. Seriously. Forget fancy surgical setups. All you needed was a hammer. And an ice pick. The pick would go in above the eye, even pushing the eyeball aside. Then hammered through the thin orbital bone. Special knives would then swirl around inside this new hole. Cutting up nerve connections in the frontal lobe. Watts quickly got uncomfortable with all the deaths and split from Freeman. But Freeman? He just kept going. Earning a real bad name. North America’s most prolific lobotomist. Did maybe 3,500 procedures.

Rosemary Kennedy’s Sad Story

Maybe the biggest gut-punch in this chilling chapter of lobotomy history is Rose Kennedy. President John F. Kennedy’s sister. The third kid in a truly bigshot American family back in the 30s and 40s. Rosemary struggled. She had learning problems. Behavioral issues too. Her family tried to hide it. But as her problems got worse, her dad, Joseph Kennedy Sr., made a terrible call. So people wouldn’t talk, he had Rosemary lobotomized. By none other than Dr. Freeman.

The surgery left Rosemary totally broken. She couldn’t walk or talk. Her smarts? Dropped like a rock. Down to a toddler’s level. She spent the rest of her long life—an ironic 85 years—in hidden places. Or family estates. Basically, a perpetual “potted plant.” Her story? It just shouts out all the deep sadness. The permanent damage these procedures caused.

Lobotomies Fade Out, Real Treatment Rises

For years, lobotomy was called a miracle cure. But its run ended in the 1950s. Scientists began to wonder if it was even treatment. Or just brute incapacitation. The turning point? New, super effective drugs. Like chlorpromazine. These meds could numb the front brain without bloody brain-cuts. Suddenly, cutting into someone’s brain seemed unnecessary. Barbaric even. With cheaper, safer ways now available, lobotomy quickly became ancient history.

Today, lobotomy is flat-out illegal. But they say rumors persist. That it’s still used in some spots for punishment. Its plan was never to actually fix anyone. But to silence. To pacify. To basically bury someone alive. Without actually killing them. It stands as a stark, tough lesson about doctor ethics. How we treat vulnerable folks. And the desperate dangers of stuff doctors did without real proof.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was a lobotomy for?

The main point? To cut out nerve connections in the front part of the brain. The idea was to calm people down. Stop aggressive behaviors. To dial down feelings from bad mental illnesses. Just trying to make them shut up.

How did lobotomies get popular in the 1930s?

Because of how things were going. Especially with fascism spreading in Europe. People with disabilities, and mental illnesses? They were seen as a “problem.” And some thought lobotomy was a nicer way out. Better than outright killing them, which some countries were doing. Totally messed up.

What made lobotomies stop?

Well, new drugs came out around the 1950s. Antipsychotics like chlorpromazine. These meds gave a better way. Cheaper too. For dealing with mental illness symptoms. It made the dangerous, often crippling surgery utterly pointless.