His lobotomy, his recovery, in his words

Feb 7, 2008 at 9:37 PM
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His lobotomy, his recovery, in his words

Edward Guthmann, Chronicle Staff Writer

Until he was 5, Howard Dully was a happy child. That was the year his mother, June, died of cancer. June was "loving and indulgent," Dully writes, so devoted that his father once said, "I could've dropped dead and it...

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bobmc7 wrote:

Did they mention what happened to the Stepmom? She deserves to die slowly and burn in hell for eternity.

Posted 9/26/2007 11:27:47 AM

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glasskey wrote:

Agreed with those who bring up the current craze for chemical brain-tinkering to keep the "weirdos" "on track". How much more horrifying is it that the masses of scarred, dulled people walking around in a zombie prozac ambien ritalin god-knows-what-else haze are invisible? Most of these people are canaries in the coalmine, letting us know our world is out of whack. If we'd only listen and appreciate their perspective. Mr. Dully is an angel, and I hope the doc and stepmom are in prison. The dad needs some serious therapy and to make amends.

Posted 9/26/2007 11:31:28 AM

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glasskey wrote:

Update: Walter Freeman, lobotomy doc, dead from cancer 1972. I hope he suffered.

Posted 9/26/2007 11:36:20 AM

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cherita77 wrote:

This is how people dealt with "non-conformists" in the family, especially if they had $$$. Mental hospitals for woman that cut their hair and had a cocktail, stayed out late dancing .. shock treatments for men who did not want to go into Daddy's business. Check it out folks, cause that way of thinking has not gone away. Ritalin, etc.. Hey, DON'T TAZE ME, DOC!! Let's get numb and right in line, and in step, and don't disagree and don't make waves and don't wear loud colors, and don't listen to music and don't dance, and STOP THINKING SO MUCH!!! Respect My Authority!!

Posted 9/26/2007 12:07:09 PM

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SoozeeQ wrote:

Thank goodness for happy (happier) endings. This is indeed a touching story.

Posted 9/26/2007 12:20:12 PM

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lambchop wrote:

These are oral histories of Freeman's lobotomy procedures. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5014594

Posted 9/26/2007 12:59:49 PM

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hmmm wrote:

what kind of sick, crazy person(s) would do this to a child?????? WOW

Posted 9/26/2007 1:05:45 PM

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Mercurius wrote:

This sort of stuff hasn't stopped. Take a look at Amanda Baggs articles on the mistreatment of autistics. Once you have a neurological or psychiatric label, any level of abuse can be excused as therapy.

Posted 9/26/2007 1:28:29 PM

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Mamacita wrote:

Howardwasright is right. How different is this from drugging kids up on Ritalin? Not to defend the step-mom, she sounds like a terrible person, but this was almost 50 years ago and child rearing changes every 2 years it seems. At that time lobotomies were more acceptable...look even shock therapy is coming back and it's apparently effective for some folks...if you'd mentioned it 10 years ago you'd seen a lot of the same comments as above. Here's a minor more benign example: When I was born 43 years ago my mother wanted to breastfeed me. Her doctor told her it wasn't clean and her mother told her her breasts were too small to supply me with milk. And now everybody is strongly encouraged to breastfeed and even made to feel bad if they can't/won't. Everything changes.

Posted 9/26/2007 1:43:36 PM

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zooney22 wrote:

What people will do to each other never ceases to shock, sadden and frighten us. What is of greater impact is that this man survived and shows no bitterness. In fact, his motivation to write the book reflects the humanity and caring for others that help us get through all that shocks, saddens and terrifies us. Thank you Mr. Dully for sharing your story.