Extra copy.

Wishlist book delivered by ghir at our TOC lunch today - thank you!

Howard Dully is a lobotomy survivor, and one who came out of it surprisingly well - a stroke of good luck for a change. Really, this isn't just a story about a stepmother who got a doctor to give her 12-year-old stepson a lobotomy, it's about his whole dysfunctional family: Howard was just the focal point.

The whole idea of stirring someone's brain with a stick makes me cringe, and the fact that it was once a popular treatment method blows my mind. I'm surprised the Kennedys didn't make more of a fuss.

More information:

http://www.npr.org/2005/11/16/5014080/my-lobotomy-howard-dullys-journey
http://soundportraits.org/on-air/my_lobotomy

I'll count this as book # 11/51 for NancyNova's 2015 MultiYear States Challenge.

11/51 read so far for this challenge:
CA | GA | HI | LA | MA | NH | NY | PA | TN | VT | WV

Headed out in quietorchid's Medicine Chest V box - go book, go!

I'm claiming this from the Medicine Chest bookbox; sounds horrifying, yet intriguing.

Later: Very horrifying indeed, not least because it describes how insanely casual Dr. Freeman was about his "wonderful" new technique - and how widely accepted it was, though there were plenty of reputable medical people who spoke out against it. I suppose some of this was due to the desperation of the families of severely-disabled folk for whom any treatment seemed better than nothing, but - as with the author's case - all too many patients (a) did not consent to the operation themselves and (b) did not have mental problems for which a lobotomy was even remotely a good idea. [Some patients did seem to improve after the operation, or at least didn't seem to suffer any particularly bad aftereffects, but that seems to be as much a function of luck as anything else.]

The author's account of his own history does have gaps in it, some due perhaps to the lobotomy and others to the simple passage of time. He describes a number of ups and downs in his life - he apparently wasn't the easiest kid, with an early tendency to break rules - but while this may have frustrated his parents it wasn't severe enough to require psychiatrists, surgery, or lengthy stints in mental hospitals. Judging by some of the entries found in the medical records, his step-mother exaggerated his faults and even lied outright about some incidents, presumably in order to get rid of him. And some members of his family actually knew this, yet couldn't or wouldn't speak out...

While Howard did have some positive experiences in foster homes and at Rancho Linda (a well-intentioned home for "special needs" students, which, alas, went under in part because the staff didn't realize how randy a bunch of teenagers might get), his treatment by his own family and by the medical profession certainly exacerbated whatever problems he may have had.

I left this book on a bench in front of the Veterans Memorial Library at DW College at around 3:15 or so; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2015 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***

*** Released for the 2015 Allergic to A challenge. ***