NPR : ‘My Lobotomy’: Howard Dully’s Journey
November 17th, 2005 | by Tony Steidler-Dennison |This is a truly compelling story, included today in NPR’s “Most Emailed Stories” podcast.
NPR : ‘My Lobotomy’: Howard Dully’s Journey
All Things Considered, November 16, 2005 · On Jan. 17, 1946, a psychiatrist named Walter Freeman launched a radical new era in the treatment of mental illness in this country. On that day, he performed the first-ever transorbital or “ice-pick” lobotomy in his Washington, D.C., office. Freeman believed that mental illness was related to overactive emotions, and that by cutting the brain he cut away these feelings.
Things like this are extremely hard to imagine. The personal stories in this podcast, including that of the author, Howard Dully, are just heartbreaking. One story is that of a new mother given a transorbital lobotomy for post-partum depression. In one of the story’s most telling moments, Dully talks with his father about the reasons he agreed to the lobotomy performed on his son at twelve years old.
3 Responses to “NPR : ‘My Lobotomy’: Howard Dully’s Journey”
By Howard Dully on Dec 5, 2005 | Reply
Thanks for listening !!!!!
Howard
By Tony Steidler-Dennison on Dec 6, 2005 | Reply
Thanks for telling the story, Howard. It was extremely moving.
Listening to the story, I was struck by a couple of things. The first, the candor with which you described the circumstances of the operation, was almost startling. I understood not only the physical circumstances, but the family and social dynamics that went into the decision to have the procedure done. Obviously, I was shocked by the reasons, but the candor was remarkable.
I was also moved deeply by the conversation with your father. Above all, I was impressed by the feeling of family that wove through that segment. Despite possessing all the reasons anyone could ask for to be bitter and angry at your father, I understood in the telling your respect for family. At the moment you might have slipped off into real, justified anger, you bore in mind that this was your father, and the conversation moved away respectfully from that point. That’s a very admirable quality - one I’m not at all sure I could maintain myself.
Thanks, again, Howard.
By Anonymous on Apr 3, 2007 | Reply
I thank you, Howard, for going public with your voice on the internet about your experience. As for the response to your story, I say this. I’m aware that any response you have to your father when you talk about this finally is affected by the lobotomy itself. I can feel this. No one will ever know how you’d deal with meeting your father years later, having not had a lobotomy. The range, quality, tone and depth of your response would, no doubt, be different. That is the point of this, as you keep saying in different ways. I’m glad you’ve written a book, for those who may benefit from holding your words in their hands. Your story strikes a chord in my own life. There have always been other ways besides drugs and surgery to reach for healing. Things like homeopathy. But that’s another story altogether. Best wishes to you.