# What does it feel like after being lobotimized? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2012, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278 "2012-08-03T10:39:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/1 "2012-08-03T10:39:01Z")
I mean from the perspective of the patient? What would it feel like to live life after being lobotimized? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/2 "2012-08-03T11:26:41Z")
I’ve seen occasional news articles about lobotomized people. It just might be possible to google up some of those. Turns out, traumatic brain injury to the frontal portion of the brain (e.g., due to a head-on car crash) can sometimes produce a similar result. You might be able to find articles like that. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/3 "2012-08-03T11:37:46Z")
Here’s a start: Go google for Howard Dully, and read his life’s story. He was lobotomized at age 12 for chronic bad behavior, and spent much of his life trying to learn all about it. He wrote a memoir I think, and there are interviews with him you can read about. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/4 "2012-08-03T11:48:05Z")
I was going to mention much of what is out there is contradictory, even on the wiki page. One physician of the time will claim it makes people less anxious and more outgoing, someone else says it turns insane people into idiots. Even blubs of survivors range from staring at blank walls and drooling to basically normal life. I was wondering what the average outcome was. Thanks for the Howard Dully memoir tip! ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/5 "2012-08-03T13:13:50Z")
Since they randomly destroyed brain tissue and since the brain has some plasticity, I don’t find particularly surprising that the result was highly variable. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/6 "2012-08-03T13:58:40Z")
It also depends on the care you receive afterwards. For example, if your principle caretaker is a Native American, it can be quite smothering. If, on the other hand, you’ve got a very good support network, even down to truck drivers and a freelance maintenance engineer, it can be (internally) extremely delightful and almost euphoric. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/7 "2012-08-03T14:01:09Z")
Probably one of the more famous persons to be lobotomized is Rosemary Kennedy. Before the operation, she was described as being “mildly retarded” and prone to outbursts, but otherwise happy and easygoing. But [afterward:](http://fatboy.cc/Rosemary.htm) > [@](#): > > “She had regressed into an infant like state,” Leamer wrote, “mumbling a few words, sitting for hours staring at the walls, only traces left of the young woman she had been, still with flashes of rage. This was a horror beyond horror, an unthinkable, unspeakable disaster." ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/8 "2012-08-03T14:23:00Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > It also depends on the care you receive afterwards. For example, if your principle caretaker is a Native American, it can be quite smothering. If, on the other hand, you’ve got a very good support network, even down to truck drivers and a freelance maintenance engineer, it can be (internally) extremely delightful and almost euphoric. Is this a reference to something I’m not getting? Otherwise, I don’t understand this post. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/9 "2012-08-03T14:28:54Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Is this a reference to something I’m not getting? Otherwise, I don’t understand this post. Reference to the book/movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next”. One of the principle characters, a mental patient, was a large muscular native American. He smothered the main character out of pity after the main character had a lobotomy ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/10 "2012-08-03T14:29:04Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Is this a reference to something I’m not getting? Otherwise, I don’t understand this post. The first is “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NEst” but I’m not catching the second reference. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/11 "2012-08-03T14:30:34Z")
Also, [Brazil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_%28film%29). Remember, we’re all in this together. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/12 "2012-08-03T14:31:20Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > The first is “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NEst” but I’m not catching the second reference. Same here. I got nothing on the second part. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/13 "2012-08-03T14:35:47Z")
I didn’t know Francis Farmer had truck drivers and a maintenance engineer. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/14 "2012-08-03T14:58:11Z")
Thanks- that helps. I should have thought of Cukoo’s Nest! ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/15 "2012-08-03T15:50:07Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Here’s a start: Go google for Howard Dully, and read his life’s story. > > He was lobotomized at age 12 for chronic bad behavior, and spent much of his life trying to learn all about it. He wrote a memoir I think, and there are interviews with him you can read about. There was a TV show about lobotomy that featured him too. I believe it was an hour long show on Discovery or other “science” type channel. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/16 "2012-08-03T15:56:53Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > There was a TV show about lobotomy that featured him too. I believe it was an hour long show on Discovery or other **“science”** type channel. Interesting use of scare quotes there. Almost subliminally suggesting that Discovery, TLC (The Learning Channel), A&E (Arts & Entertainment), History, History International, etc. serve as an example. At one point, they were vibrant, dynamic channels with a large range and limitless potential. Now, they’ve been lobotomized. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/17 "2012-08-03T19:41:51Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Interesting use of scare quotes there. Almost subliminally suggesting that Discovery, TLC (The Learning Channel), A&E (Arts & Entertainment), History, History International, etc. serve as an example. At one point, they were vibrant, dynamic channels with a large range and limitless potential. > > Now, they’ve been lobotomized. Yep. And don’t forget the National Geographic Channel. All they show now is crap. (With a few good documentaries now and then.) ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/18 "2012-08-03T23:26:37Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Interesting use of scare quotes there. Almost subliminally suggesting that Discovery, TLC (The Learning Channel), A&E (Arts & Entertainment), History, History International, etc. serve as an example. At one point, they were vibrant, dynamic channels with a large range and limitless potential. > > Now, they’ve been lobotomized. Sorry, I didn’t mean to subliminally suggest all those things, I meant to say them outright but didn’t have time. I can’t decide between 5 straight hours of “Say Yes To The Dress” or 5 straight hours of UFO shows tonight. I started looking and that lobotomy program may have actually been [this one](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/lobotomist/) on PBS, which does have science programming without the quotation marks. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/19 "2012-08-03T23:35:33Z")
/\* Thread shit Probably like most republicans Thread Shit/\* ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278/20 "2012-08-03T23:53:55Z")
[Howard Dully reading the intro to his book.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW_dNktNFRA) Fascinatng. Terrifying. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-feel-like-after-being-lobotimized/630278.md?page=2)