ain cells... all serious mental disorders are the result of "fixed" thoughts that interfere with normal mental life; arguing that "fixed thoughts" are maintained by nerve pathways in the frontal lobes (Valenstein, 1986)."
             Mozins theory on the fibers that connected the fixed thoughts and the frontal lobe was vague; years later Freeman and Watt's improved upon this theory suggesting that specific bands of fiber need be cut to make the lobotomy successful(Valenstein, 1986).
             From most recorded accounts of lobotomies one can surmise that when considered "successful" the surgery just relieved the symptoms at best; patients most of the time became passive and sluggish, losing their feelings, their ambition, and often developed epilepsy, etc. Side effects of "unsuccessful" surgeries include severe brain damage, becoming a vegetable and death. So were individuals actually being cured or just made indefinitely sedated? It wasn't until the 1950's the scientific community began to doubt whether lobotomies actually achieved the goals that they
             set out to. " Even lobotomy's proponents admitted that only one third of the operated patients would improve, while one-third remained the same, and one-third got worst (25 to 30 % is the proportion of spontaneous improvement in many kinds of mental diseases ! Thus, a large proportion of the operated patients could have recovered without the lobotomy) (Sabbatini, 1997)."
             Individuals began to realize just what a inhumane act the lobotomy was. It was Clear that the lobotomy was causing "brain damage", and in turn lessening the patients quality of life. Concern over the protection of patients against lobotomy and similar radical therapies, particularly in inmates, where release was widely exchanged with agreement to a lobotomy (a highly unfair, biased and controversial offer); t...