treatment history
Surgery

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The most controversial physical therapy of the 20th century was the lobotomy (or leucotomy), which involved drilling through the skull and destroying the frontal lobes of the brain. Experiments on apes in the 1930s showed that the operation calmed aggressive animals. It was found to have the same effect on humans, but at the cost of destroying their sense of judgement and social skills.

The pre-frontal leucotomy was introduced in Dundee by Dr Bell in 1946. The operation was carried out in Maryfield Hospital. Two years later Bell reported that the operation had been performed on 53 patients, of whom 50 had improved, 2 showed no change and 1 tragically had died.
He noted:

'The [improved] patients
include many previously restless or violent and requiring continual nursing care and supervision, who are now able to lead a relatively normal life under medical hospital conditions.'

With the discovery of new anti - psychotic drugs in the 1950s, leucotomies became unnecessary.
The operation was last performed in Dundee in 1959. Causing irreversible damage to the brain, leucotomies are now considered unethical. Psychosurgery is still carried out
as a treatment, but at a much more advanced level. Scans and brain - imaging techniques in the 1970s and ‘80s allowed a more detailed study of the brain. Recent developments in neuropathology led to the discovery of physical abnormalities in the brain tissue of schizophrenics. Research continues into these areas today.

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