Even they deserve this.

 

This is an interesting fact.

Recently, in a hospital in Gurugram, there was a psychosurgery performed on a Kenyan person with schizophrenia. This was performed with the help of deep brain stimulation. This leads to a common question in the minds of all people: what is the meaning of psychosurgery? So, this blog aims to make the readers understand what the meaning of psychosurgery is and how it can save people’s lives.WHO defines “psychosurgery as the selective removal or destruction of nerve pathways to influence the behaviour of an individual”. So, it is performed on the brain to help treat the psychiatric disorders that one is suffering from. The core concept of this procedure focuses on destroying the brain tissues that are responsible for causing the psychological disorder. The term was coined by the Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Mainz. He is also responsible for conducting the first psychosurgery in the 1930s, which back then was termed a lobotomy. This was conducted to cure a variety of disorders, including depression. The procedure involved drilling two holes in the person’s skull and cutting the nerves of the forebrain, which are connected to the rest of the brain. This was believed to stop the abnormal behaviours that one experiences. 

In the 1930s and 1940s, the number of lobotomies was slowly increasing despite their side effects. It was only with the advent of psychotherapy in the mid-1950s that the number of psychosurgeries started reducing.In modern times, psychosurgeries are used in rare cases where medical and therapeutic techniques have failed. In these rare cases as well, psychosurgeries can be used to treat various treatment-resistant conditions, like GAD, OCD, and MDD. The common psychosurgical procedures that are still in use are Anterior Cingulotomy, Subcaudate tractotomy, limbic leucotomy, etc. Anterior cingulotomies have been used by surgeons to treat conditions like OCD and major depressive disorder. It involves the placement of the bilateral lesions in stereotactic regions. It is also believed that the efficacious bundle tends to interrupt the fibres of the cingulum bundle. This treatment method has been used by surgeons since the 1960s. The surgeon starts by drilling a hole in the skull of the patient and then using a blade to access the anterior cingulate cortex. Another method called anterior capsulotomy has been used to target and burn small bits of tissue near the thalamus region. It may be useful for helping to reduce the number of symptoms that one experiences due to OCD, but it may cause some side effects like Cerebral edoema, headaches, delirium, etc.  

Limbic leucotomy is a procedure that is a mix of anterior cingulotomy and subcaudate tractotomy. In a study conducted in 2013, we can see that the patients were able to report somewhere around a 73% recovery rate.In most cases, it has been observed that the psychosurgical procedures are able to deliver success rates of up to 75% in patients with depression and 70% in patients with OCD. These procedures have been able to relieve the patients of the physical suffering they undergo along with the mental suffering. On the flip side, we have some negative effects that one tends to experience due to psychosurgical procedures being performed. Some go through personality changes, epileptic disorders, bedwetting, etc., while others can go through memory impairment or paralysis as well. Death can also be one of the consequences of such procedures. 

Speaking of specific procedures, we can observe that drowsiness and weight gain are also common in limbic leucotomy. There is an increased importance of rehabilitation after one goes through a psychosurgical procedure. The extent of rehabilitation depends upon how extensive the operation was and how bad the condition of such individuals was as well. Childish behaviour in such individuals is common, and full-time rehabilitation is necessary so that the individual's health is in sync and is able to live a balanced life.In conclusion, psychosurgery is a much appreciated step in the field of psychology and a boon as well because it can be used to help individuals with disorders like depression, OCD, etc. But it should be performed carefully, and the surgeons must get consent from the patient after performing it.

Thank you for reading, I hope this blog has been informative!