Describe Psychosurgery (10 Marks)
The aim of psychosurgery is to take the principle of normal surgery and to apply it with a
neurological point of view. In normal surgery, if there is a part of the body which is inflicting
harm to the other parts of the body it should be removed and psychosurgery is the same
except applied to a part of the brain harming other parts of the brain. This links into the
medical model which is the idea that the brain can be altered to counter mental illness such
as OCD, Depression and Bipolar Disorder. An example of treating mental illness with
psychosurgery would be the treatment of OCD and the procedure, this surgery
involves drilling into the skull and burning an area of the brain called the anterior cingulate
cortex with a heated probe. This is shown to significantly benefit people with OCD in regard
too their symptoms and habits.
The earliest recorded case of the use of psychosurgery dates to 1930 where a Portuguese
scientist called Egas Moniz began treating patients with mental illness. His method was
much cruder than the modern methods that could be instilled as his procedure was to first
sedate his patient and then to drill a hole in both sides of the patients head and too use a
tool similar to an ice pick to sever the nerves in the brain which caused the mental illness.
This tool was later changed from an ice pick to an instrument with a retractable wired loop
to more precisely sever the nerves named a Leucotome. This method was improved on
throughout the years until today with the process being named a lobotomy and many
changes until today where it is scarcely used.