What was a lobotomy first used for? Who performed the first one in the US?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobotomy

Check this story out:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5014080

Answer 2

Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman II (November 14, 1895 – May 31, 1972) was a physician, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a graduate of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and an advocate and very prolific practitioner of psychosurgery, specifically lobotomy.
Lobotomy now called leucotomy is psychic surgery to treat addictions Prefrontal lobotomy was first used in Switzerland by Dr. Sarles

Answer 3

"The idea of brain surgery as a means of improving mental health got started around 1890, when Friederich Golz, a German researcher, removed portions of his dogs’ temporal lobes, and found them to be calmer, less aggressive."

This was also found in chimps (though some of the test subjects died).

The idea was to replicate it in humans to remove aggressive behavior.

Don't know whether this was the first American lobotomy (most prior to that were done in Europe) but it's the first example I found: "Walter Freeman, an American physician, with his colleague James Watts, performed his first lobotomy operation in 1936. He was so satisfied with the results that he went on to do many thousands more, and in fact began a propaganda campaign to promote its use. "

Answer 4

It was used for mental illness and disorders like Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, Schizophrenia, Psychosis and Bipolar.

Answer 5

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/lobotomy.html


:)