Walter Jackson Freeman II
Walter Jackson Freeman II | |
---|---|
Born | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | November 14, 1895
Died | May 31, 1972 San Francisco, California, U.S. | (aged 76)
Education | |
Occupations |
|
Children | Walter Jackson Freeman III |
Relatives | William Williams Keen (maternal grandfather) |
Walter Jackson Freeman II (November 14, 1895 – May 31, 1972) was an American physician who specialized in lobotomy.[1]
Wanting to simplify lobotomies so that it could be carried out by psychiatrists in
Freeman and his procedure played a major role in popularizing lobotomy; he later traveled across the United States visiting mental institutions. In 1951, one of Freeman's patients at Iowa's Cherokee Mental Health Institute died when he suddenly stopped for a photo during the procedure, and the orbitoclast accidentally penetrated too far into the patient's brain.[
Early years
Walter J. Freeman was born on November 14, 1895, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by his parents. Freeman's grandfather, William Williams Keen, was well known as a surgeon in the Civil War. His father was also a very successful doctor. Freeman attended Yale University beginning in 1912, and graduated in 1916. He then moved on to study neurology at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. While attending medical school, he studied the work of William Spiller and idolized his groundbreaking work in the new field of the neurological sciences. Freeman applied for a coveted position working alongside Spiller in his home town of Philadelphia, but was rejected.[3]
Shortly afterward, in 1924, Freeman relocated to Washington, D.C., and started practicing as the first neurologist in the city.[3] Upon his arrival in Washington, Freeman began work directing laboratories at St. Elizabeths Hospital.[3] Working at the hospital and witnessing the pain and distress suffered by the patients encouraged him to continue his education in the field.[3] Freeman earned his PhD in neuropathology within the following few years and secured a position at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., as head of the neurology department.[3]
In 1932, his mother died at the Philadelphia Orthopedic Hospital in Philadelphia.[4]
Medical practice
The first systematic attempt at human psychosurgery – performed in the 1880s–1890s – is commonly attributed to the Swiss psychiatrist
Freeman then "developed a transorbital approach"
Freeman traveled across the country visiting
At 57 years old, Freeman retired from his position at George Washington University and opened up a modest practice in California.[3]
An extensive collection of Freeman's papers were donated to The George Washington University in 1980. The collection largely deals with the work that Freeman and James W. Watts did on psychosurgery over the course of their medical careers. The collection is currently under the care of GWU's Special Collections Research Center, located in the Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library.[19]
Freeman was known for his eccentricities and he complemented his theatrical approach to demonstrating surgery by sporting a cane, goatee, and narrow-brimmed hat.[3][13]
Death
Freeman died of complications arising from an operation for cancer on May 31, 1972.[20]
He was survived by four children, Walter, Frank, Paul and Lorne, two of whom entered the medical profession, the eldest, Walter Jr., becoming a professor of neurobiology at the University of California, Berkeley.[13]
Contributions to psychiatry
Walter Freeman nominated his mentor
Works
- Freeman, W. and Watts, J.W. Psychosurgery. Intelligence, Emotion and Social Behavior Following Prefrontal Lobotomy for Mental Disorders, Charles C. Thomas Publisher, Springfield (Ill.) 1942, pp. 337.
References
- ^ a b c d e "The Lobotomist". American Experience. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
- ^ PMID 28859561.
- ^ .
- New York Times. October 28, 1932. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
- ^ For example:
- Whitaker, H.A.; Stemmer, B.; Joanette, Y. (1996). "A psychosurgical chapter in the history of cerebral localization: the six cases of Gottlieb Burkhardt". In Code, Christopher; Wallesch, C.-W.; Joanette, Y.; Roch, A. (eds.). Classic Cases in Neuropsychology. Hove: Psychology Press. pp. 276. ISBN 978-0-86377-395-2.
- Stone, James L. (January 2001). "Dr. Gottlieb Burckhardt – the Pioneer of Psychosurgery". Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 10 (1): 79–92. S2CID 29727830.
- Manjila, S.; S. Rengachary; A. R Xavier; B. Parker; M. Guthikonda (2008). "Modern psychosurgery before Egas Moniz: a tribute to Gottlieb Burckhardt". Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics. 25 (1): 1. PMID 18590386.
- Kotowicz, Zbigniew (2005). "Gottlieb Burckhardt and Egas Moniz–Two Beginnings of Psychosurgery". Gesnerus. 62 (1–2): 78–79. PMID 16201322.
- Berrios, German E. (1991). "Psychosurgery in Britain and elsewhere: a conceptual history". In Berrios, German E.; Freeman, Hugh (eds.). 150 Years of British psychiatry, 1841–1991. Gaskell. pp. 181–85. ISBN 978-0-902241-36-7.
- Whitaker, H.A.; Stemmer, B.; Joanette, Y. (1996). "A psychosurgical chapter in the history of cerebral localization: the six cases of Gottlieb Burkhardt". In Code, Christopher; Wallesch, C.-W.; Joanette, Y.; Roch, A. (eds.). Classic Cases in Neuropsychology. Hove: Psychology Press. pp. 276.
- PMID 16201322.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "A Lobotomy Timeline". NPR. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
- ^ a b "The Lobotomist: Complete Program Transcript". PBS. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ^ "Walter J. Freeman II and Lobotomy: Probing for Answers". blogs.britannica.com. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
- ^ El-Hai, Jack (2016-03-16). "Fighting the Legend of the 'Lobotomobile'". Retrieved November 20, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-307-38126-2.
- ISBN 978-0879751784. Archived from the original(PDF) on 29 August 2017.
- ^ a b c Day, Elizabeth (January 13, 2008). "He was bad, so they put an ice pick in his brain". The Guardian. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
- ^ Breggin, Peter R. (24 February 1972). "The Return of Lobotomy and Psychosurgery" (PDF). United States Congressional Record. 118 (5): 5570. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2017.
- ^ "Top 10 Fascinating And Notable Lobotomies". 2009-06-24. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
- ISBN 978-0307407672. Alt URL
- ^ a b "The Lobotomy Files: One Doctor's Legacy". WSJ.
- ^ "Lobotomy – PBS documentary on Walter Freeman". PBS. Archived from the original on 2010-01-25. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ Guide to the Walter Freeman and James Watts Papers, 1918–1988, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
- ^ "Walter Jackson Freeman, Father of the Lobotomy". 27 September 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
Further reading
- Kean, Sam (2021). The Icepick Surgeon; Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science (Hardcover ed.). New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316496506. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
External links
- Guide to the Walter Freeman and James Watts papers, 1918–1988, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
- The Lobotomist, authoritative biography of Freeman by Jack El-Hai
- New England Journal of Medicine article
- Article referencing Jack El-Hai's initial Washington Post feature on Freeman
- A Brief History of Lobotomy Archived 2009-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
- 'My Lobotomy' documentary program from SoundPortraits.org
- "Shedding Light on Shadowland"