Different diseases and disorders have facilitated the advancement and invention of different forms of treatment. One of the most controversial treatments in the medical field is psychosurgery.
Psychosurgery (also called Neurosurgery for Mental Disorder – NMD) is a neurosurgical operation performed to people with mental disorders such as aggression and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – OCD (George, Erin and Robert 410). Various studies have been carried out in different parts concerning this type of treatment. The concept of how this technique functions has also been captured in various pieces of literature such as in the novel “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Kessey. The novel provides some insights of how this concept works. This discussion delineates on the concept of psychosurgery and provides an opinion on whether this kind of medical treatment ought to be permitted or not. In order to understand better the concept of psychotherapy, this discussion covers on the development of the concept and the different types of psychosurgery that have been created. The paper further explains how they work and gives an overview of how different countries approach this concept. Furthermore, examples of people who have gone through this kind of treatment are also provided, and a conclusion on whether the concept should be adopted fully. The concept of psychosurgery in the modern history is approximated to have come into shape in the 1800s, under Gotlieb Burckhardt, a Swiss psychiatrist. Not much came out of his studies until the 20th century, in the 1930s, when Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist came up with an operation known as leucotomy (George, Erin and Robert 410). This operation was instrumental and it triggered interest among other psychiatrists and neurologists. The practice became of interest in the U.S. when Walter Freeman, a neuropsychiatric, and James Watts, a neurosurgeon, developed a procedure / technique called lobotomy. This operation was referred to as leucotonomy in U.K. The year 1949 saw Moniz awarded a Noble price for his input and research in the concept. From 1950, no further developments were experienced in the field until 1970 when it again was revived but adopted progressively (George, Erin and Robert 412). Most of the countries had already given up with the concept as the U.S. and U.K. used it in treatment of people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and schizophrenia among other disorders. Psychosurgery requires the collaboration of neurosurgeons and psychiatrists. During the process of operations, steretactic and general anesthetic methods are applied. In the operation, the neurosurgeons remove or destroy small piece of brain believed to cause mental problems to the patient. This is the reason why it is a process that is undertaken by these two kinds of practitioners: psychiatrists and neurosurgeons. Currently, there are a number of psychosurgery methods used by various hospitals to help people with mental disorders. These include cingulatomy, capsulotomy, subcaudate, limbic leucotomy, and tractotomy. Anterior cingulotomy, developed in the U.S. by Ballantine, was first used in the U.K. by Hugh Caims. However, it is mostly used in U.S. (George, Erin and Robert 413). This operation targets the anterior cingualte cortex whereby posterior frontal and thalamic regions are disconnected in an operation as the anterior cingualte region is damaged. On the other hand, anterior capsulotomy was created and developed in Sweden, and it is the most popularly used procedure where thalamic nuclei and orbitofrontal cortex are disconnected. Limbic leucotomy is a combination of anterior cingulotomy and subcaudate tractotomy, and it was used in 1960s in the Atkinson Morley Hospital in London as well as in Massachusetts General Hospital. Students have indicated that out of the patients subjected to this kind of operation, a third of them show significant improvement in terms of their symptoms. There have been advances in the field, which reduced the number of people who succumb to death and those who sustain serious damages from the operation. However, some risks yet to be addressed include decreased initiative and drive, seizures, cognitive and affective problems, and weight gains. Despite these limitations, there seems to be shifts in the treatment of these mental illnesses as practitioners are moving from the usual ablative psychotherapy, which aims at destroying brain tissues, to another way of operation named deep brain stimulations, where the aim is to stimulate the brain areas that are implanted with electrodes (George, Erin and Robert 417).
We Write Essays for Students
Tell us about your assignment and we will find the best writer for your paper
Get Help Now!
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH ONLY NURSING PAPERS TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT
The post Different diseases and disorders have facilitated the advancement and invention of different forms of treatment. One of the most controversial treatments in the medical field is psychosurgery. appeared first on Only Nursing Papers.
Welcome to originalessaywriters.com, our friendly and experienced essay writers are available 24/7 to complete all your assignments. We offer high-quality academic essays written from scratch to guarantee top grades to all students. All our papers are 100% plagiarism-free and come with a plagiarism report, upon request
Tell Us “Write My Essay for Me” and Relax! You will get an original essay well before your submission deadline.
