Once upon a time, “mental health care” meant sticking an ice pick through your eye socket. In the 1940s, Dr. Walter Freeman became famous for performing what he called the “transorbital lobotomy” — a “miracle procedure” for almost any emotional distress. After rendering patients unconscious (often with electroshock therapy), he’d insert a pick-like instrument above the eyeball, tap it into the brain with a mallet, and sever the connection between the prefrontal cortex and thalamus to “calm” the patient’s emotions.
Tens of thousands of Americans underwent this procedure before psychiatric meds existed — many left docile, dazed, or even physically disabled. The practice gradually fell off in the 1950s, when antidepressants, antipsychotics, and other medications were invented, ultimately proving to be much more effective in treating mentally ill individuals.
So, how would you have fared in the golden age of the lobotomy? You might be surprised just how easy it was to qualify. Take this quiz ― fully based on the 1940s real-life lobotomy criteria ― to find out if vintage psychiatry would’ve picked you for the ice-pick treatment (Don’t worry, no mallets involved.)