This article reviews "Great and Desperate Cures: The Rise and Decline of Psychosurgery & Other Radical Treatments for Mental Illness," detailing the transorbital lobotomy procedure. This surgery, performed on approximately 50,000 people in the United States during the mid-20th century, involved inserting an instrument like an ice pick or leucotome through the eye socket into the brain to sever nerve fibers. The procedure, often conducted without anesthesia or sterilization, was used for various mental illnesses but was sometimes applied to individuals with less severe conditions or those who had not exhausted other treatment options. AI
RANK_REASON This is a book review, not a primary source announcement of a new model, research, or significant industry event.
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- Astral Codex Ten
- Great and Desperate Cures: The Rise and Decline of Psychosurgery & Other Radical Treatments for Mental Illness
- Leucotome
- Orbitoclast
- Scott Alexander
- Transorbital lobotomy
- Uline Ice Company
- United States
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