Rosemary Kennedy, John F. Kennedy’s sister, had been left in a near-vegetative state after a lobotomy performed by Walter Freeman, a doctor who travelled around America severing the frontal lobes of more than 3,000 people with a kitchen ice pick.
The Economist. "Making cruel unusual" July 11th - 17th, 2015, Accessed on July 10, 2015, http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21657022-treatment-severe-mental-illness-used-be-barbaric-sometimes-it-still-making
This is from an article on the history of barbaric psychiatric practices and the recent turn towards a more humane treatment of mental illness. It's just one article from a special report by The Economist this week on mental illness in the rich world. In addition, there are articles about the proliferation of mental illness within developed nations, autism and ADHD in the youth, dementia in the elderly and a concluding piece on the neurology of mental illness. They're all worth reading this weekend if you have the chance.
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