OCD- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is real, often invisible, and incredibly tough to live with.
Do you know someone who lives with OCD?
Or maybe you’re someone who’s faced it yourself, those exhausting cycles of fear, doubt, and repetitive actions you cannot ignore?
But what if I told you a bullet once did what years of therapy and medications could not?
In 1983, a 19-year-old Canadian boy was battling severe OCD, so extreme, he washed his hands over a hundred times a day. His fear of germs was so intense, he dropped out of school and quit his job.
One day, after a heated argument with his mother, he tried to end his life. He shot himself in the head. But what happened next stunned everyone.
The bullet struck his frontal lobe the very area linked to OCD behaviors. Miraculously, surgeons successfully removed it. Even more shocking? His OCD vanished completely.
No impact on IQ. No memory loss. Just freedom from the compulsions that once ruled his life.
Over time, he finished high school, went to college, got A grades, and even started working, all without OCD.
Psychiatrists today call this a rare, accidental version of a “Targeted lobotomy” a one-in-a-million shot that only hit the problematic brain region and left everything else untouched.
Unbelievable, right? What are your thoughts on this?
Lobotomy is not mostly practiced anymore and it’s utilization has been largely restricted since many years considering the huge and harmful side effects it brought. It’s banned in many countries too. PFC region of the brain is very sensitive and complex too, as it helps in learning, decision making, speech etc. Lobotomy left many people with conditions where the procedure affected their speaking, few body parts couldn’t work and it impacted a major part of their physical, emotional and mental health drastically and was life threatening. More than benefits, it resulted in heavier side effects. In today’s time, psychosurgery is not preferred much considering the complexities it can bring for a patient. Lobotomy is almost restricted, as a last option in treatment-resistant OCD cases or related mental health issues, cingulotomy is preferred, as through this process, side-effects are less as it targets a specific area or zone of brain (as proven by few significant research studies). Medications are almost the safest option as compared to the psycho-surgeries in today’s time.
