Teaching Students About the definition of Lobotomy
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Lobotomy is a medical procedure that was once regularly performed on patients with mental illnesses. During the procedure, a surgeon would remove or damage specific parts of the brain, including the frontal lobe, with the hope that the patient’s behavior and mood would improve. However, the procedure has since been widely discredited and is no longer used, both because of its ineffectiveness and its serious side effects.
As teachers, it’s important to educate our students about the history and impact of lobotomy. Not only is it an important part of medical history, but it also sheds light on the way patients with mental illnesses were treated in the past.
We can start by teaching our students the basic definition of lobotomy. We can explain that lobotomy was a procedure in which a surgeon would remove or damage part of the brain in hopes of curing certain mental illnesses. We can also discuss some of the early success stories of lobotomy – how patients who were previously unable to function were able to return to some level of normalcy after the procedure.
Going deeper, we can discuss the reasons why lobotomy became a popular treatment option, despite its brutal nature. We can talk about how mental illness was stigmatized and misunderstood, and how doctors and therapists were often at a loss for how to treat patients with these conditions. Lobotomy provided a simple and seemingly effective solution, even though it was a drastic and risky choice.
Of course, it’s also important to discuss the many problems with lobotomy. We can outline the procedure itself – how the surgeon would drill holes in the patient’s skull and insert instruments to sever connections in the brain. We can talk about the intense physical pain and emotional trauma that patients experienced during and after the procedure. We can also discuss the numerous adverse effects of lobotomy, including loss of motor function, cognitive impairment, and even death.
Finally, we can discuss how lobotomy came to be discredited and outlawed. We can talk about how the medical community eventually came to see lobotomy as a barbaric and dangerous treatment option. And, importantly, we can discuss how modern treatments for mental illness have evolved to be less invasive and more effective.
By teaching our students about lobotomy, we can shed light on the history of mental illness treatment and help students understand why it’s important to continue to explore more effective treatment options. We can also help our students become more empathetic and understanding of people who are struggling with mental illness. As educators, we have an opportunity to educate our students about topics that have been essential to the development of modern medicine, and lobotomy is a prime example of why we should never stop questioning and searching for better solutions.