1083 | 18.2.2012 | 3 months agoJerry Cooke, Patients of the Byberry and Ohio Cleveland State hospitals. (Via)
On May 6, 1946, Life magazine published “Bedlam 1946,” an exposé of two state hospitals: Pennsylvania’s Byberry and Ohio’s Cleveland State. To a country shaken by recent revelations of Nazi atrocities, the pictures were deeply affecting. The crisis in state mental hospitals motivated Dr. Walter Freeman to devise a simple version of the lobotomy procedure, one that could be used on a mass scale.
“All of a sudden America sees these photos that look like concentration camp photos. You see people huddled naked along walls, strapped to benches — and it really is this descent into this shameful moment. And the country did say, we have to do something about this.” - Robert Whitaker, writer
(Via)
I became aware of these photographs through a documentary titled The Lobotomist (click on the link to watch the documentary, its runtime is 53:54). It explores the history of the lobotomy, mostly focusing on Dr. Freeman. It also shows the downward spiral Dr. Walter Freeman goes through when it is discovered how ineffective, and irreparably damaging, a lobotomy is.
(via valar-morghuliss)
