Someone posted mentioning ECT and then in the thread mentioned a lobotomy. Of course a lobotomy is an outdated and very harmful procedure, but psychosurgery is still used in other ways. unfortunately none work for psychotic symptoms, like paranoia, but while I was in the hospital, with OCD as my chief complaint–well, one of them, but it was the only one he really treated–the doctor put me back on prozac after i had quit it, but paired it with anafranil, which is supposed to be the gold standard for ocd. for good measure he added risperdal, too, as it has been shown to help ocd as augmentation of AD treatment. he also hoped it would help my sleep and mood, but thats beside the point. he also gave me a list of glutamate modulating agents, none of which are approved for ocd but im thinking of asking for one called riluzole if this combo doesnt work. BUT ANYWAY, MY POINT. he said if medicines dont work there is always psychosurgery. he said he thought i probably wouldnt have to go that far, but if it DOES go that far im open to it. the two used for ocd are one called bilateral capsulotomy where they create lesions on part of the brain (obviously irreversible and therefore scarier) and the other is called deep brain stimulation, where they implant an electrical device in your brain that sends off electrical pulses to stimulate the brain. its reversible, since they can go back in and take the device out. genuinely, i would do it if medication doesnt work for me. and if the doctor is right and my paranoia, mood swings and concentration issues really do stem from ocd, i would be in damn good shape!
thoughts on psychosurgery? would you do it if there was one that helped psychosis?
Look in these situations you have to weigh up the pros and cons, risks vs advantages. I don’t know how bad you OCD is but it must be pretty bad if you’d consider surgery. Personally, I wouldn’t want to go through any surgery unless I absolutely had to. If the meds didn’t help with my sz then I guess I would probably consider it. Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best. OCD is very life limiting so I can see why you’d want relief from it.
Have an uncle with Parkinsons who had an op putting electodes in his brain with a mechanic in his chest.
He’s pretty much a loose cannon these days and I know it’s the opposite of what we deal with in realms but it’s just not good policy. My uncle is a mess and not sure some simple treatments or meds would have been better…
Don’t do it dude. It’s frigging stupid tech which two weeks later will be redundant. There’s a reason labotomies were rubbish. It’s poor science!
I had stomack surgery. It made my life much better and easier. The thing with surgeries is that if you really need it it will make your life easier. But if you do it …well for fun or whatever…its very dangerous …can cause problems…Surgey is only good if its justified.
Surgens are very good these days…but if the patient doesnt REALLY need it…then surgen is not God.
Psychosurgery is an archaic, discontinued, primitive surgery which was designed to make mentally ill people less of a problem. It did lower their activity and agitation level but caused severe changes in human interaction and damaged some higher mental functions. It is no longer used due to the severe morbidity outcomes, and gratifyingly replaced by modern medication. There are few left who have suffered this procedure. Other forms of brain surgery are performed but for medical reasons such as tumour resection and intractable seizures but this is not the same as lobotomy.
Lobotomies have been out of favor for several decades but having said that there might be a rare case that might respond to this form of treatment. The vast majority of patients are now treated with various medications.
Only in extremely rare cases would anyone recommend this procedure now. If a doctor is recommending this procedure, I would get a second opinion before considering it.
I think I’m the only one here who has actually survived brain surgery. It is not a procedure you fully recover from, no matter how they try and sell it to you. I’m alive, and I’m grateful. But I also lost my ability to do math, developed nasty dizzy/fainting spells, can’t read a clock anymore, my head always hurts at least a little bit, and I can’t look up. If no meds help you, wait for better meds. I’ve been hospitalized before for my OCD. I’ve had it bad. I would continue having it every day of my life if the trade off was no longer having the symptoms of my brain surgery.
I do think everyone read your full post, and they just can’t believe you would even consider something so reckless.
Yes, ablative brain surgery usually causes damage. I never advocated for it and said it was scary. I’m talking about a REVERSIBLE surgery. I don’t think it’s reckless. There is scientific evidence to back it up unlike a lobotomy.
And if you are opposed to ever personally doing it even if it helped, more power to you. I don’t like living in constant suffering because of it, I want to live a semi normal life and thus far I’ve been resistant to meds and therapy. I would weigh the pros and cons and the pros would outweigh the cons. It’s caused two suicide attempts and I live everyday impaired because of it
I manage my OCD with biofeedback, because no meds worked for me. I’ve been doing so for thirteen years, and I’ve kept it under control. I just wear a sensor on the outside of my skull, watch a movie, and the sensor helps retrain my brain activity to more healthy patterns. There are hundreds of possibilities to try before elective brain surgery. The simple act of cutting into your brain will leave you permanently damaged. There is no such thing as reversible surgery. They can take out the hardware, but they can’t uncut your brain.