Are lobotomys still performed today? Or electric shocks on patients?

Question

Are lobotomys still performed today? Or electric shocks on patients?

Answer 1

LOL... Superb answer by MATRIX. Exactly as proffered, frontal lobotomies haven't been performed in an awfully long time, probably not since any of us were born.  It's not regarded as a reasonable surgical technique for the treatment of psychiatric illness.

ECT, however, is used and is an extremely effective tool in the treatment of refractory Major Depression Disorder in addition to other refractory psychiatric pathologies.  In the treatment of refractory Major Depression it has an exceedingly high rate of efficacy after serial treatments.

A few surgical treatments are still available for a select group of psychiatric patients with refractory psychiatric disorders including such procedures as cingulotomies, however, very few centers perform such procedures and the criteria for candidacy for such procedures are extremely stringent, typically requiring a formal board consisting of Psychiatrists, Neurosurgeons specializing in such procedures to evaluate each case to determine whether the patient is a suitable candidate of surgical intervention.

Answer 2

Lobotomy, no. Electric shocks, yes.

Answer 3

ECT is a common treatment used for severe depression. It is the most effective treatment

Answer 4

Lobotomy, yes(an incision). Helps some epileptics that have too much activity in an area.. Lobectomy(a removal of a portion), not typically.

Both are making a bit of a resurgence. Here's the Wiki on ECT.

Answer 5

Actually, ECT has not demonstrated much LONG TERM efficacy at all.  However they are useful to 'snap' patients out of a comatosed or severely depressed state.  It is very commonly used in Australian psychiatric wards.

Answer 6

Lobotomy might be getting practised on individuals such as that are in Guantánamo Bay Prison otherwise it has be banned in almost every country.

In case of electric shock or medically known as " Electroconvulsive Therapy ", they are still used for patient with serious and high risk cases of  psychiatric mental illness. Once the decision has been made for a patient to have ECT there is usually a pretreatment evaluation that determines what factors will allow for maximum benefits and minimize risk. Other than that a patient doesn't have many options.

Good Luck !