Lobotomies
Popularized in the 1930s and 1940s, lobotomies were once considered a miracle cure for mental illness. The procedure involved inserting a long metal pick through the eye socket to sever connections in the frontal lobe. It was quick, cheap, and hailed as a breakthrough by desperate institutions struggling with overcrowded asylums.
In reality, lobotomies left thousands of patients permanently damaged—emotionless, childlike, or completely nonfunctional. Some died on the table. Others were reduced to zombie-like states. One of the most famous victims was Rosemary Kennedy, sister to President John F. Kennedy. The barbaric procedure fell out of favor by the 1950s, replaced by antipsychotic medications that, while imperfect, didn’t scramble the brain with an ice pick.
