When Was the Last Lobotomy Performed?

From the year 1945 to 1947, there were around 2,000 lobotomies performed. However, the numbers skyrocketed to 18,000 after Moniz was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discovery in 1949. 

The development of antipsychotic medications has been the salvation of patients who were next in line for more lobotomy before and after results. The final recorded lobotomy in the United States was performed by Dr. Walter Freeman in 1967, tragically resulting in the death of the patient.

What Did Lobotomies Do?

There were many factors why this surgery was deemed acceptable by mental institutions back in the day, mainly because there was no medication or therapy effective enough to treat people who suffered from various mental illnesses. And with electroshock therapy being already in use, this invasive operation didn’t shock people. However, the misinformation and active campaigning for the effectiveness of lobotomy had a significant impact, too.

Walter Freeman helped popularize this procedure in the US, becoming one of the most hated doctors. With no surgical training, Freeman decided to change the operation, and instead of drilling holes in the skull, he stabbed the patient’s brain with an icepick through the eye socket. 

Walter Freeman’s lobotomy was an updated method to the point where it only took him 12 minutes to perform it. He traveled around the country in a van called the Lobotomobile and had no problem performing it in non-sterile environments.

However, he and other doctors who performed this procedure often overlooked the gruesome side effects lobotomies caused, mainly focusing on the appearance of the patients and relieving the discomfort the illnesses had caused to their family members.

This attitude is highlighted in the lobotomy pictures that Freeman took of his patients. He used these before and after lobotomy photos as an argument in favor of the procedure. Scroll below to see the disturbing images.