therapies- psychosurgery

taken from own notes and online source

what approach is this therapy from

the biological approach

what model does the biological approach follow

the medical model which states that all psychological illnesses should be treated with physiological methods.

what is the main aim of psychosurgery

to treat localised areas of the brain that may have been damaged, in order for the individual to live a more functional life.

describe a prefrontal leucotomy,

* developed in the 1930s and was one of the first psychosurgery procedures
* surgeons will drill two holes into the skull and push a leucotome into the brain.
* they will move the leucotome from side to side to cut the connections between the frontal lobes and the rest of the brain

\

who created the transorbital lobotomy

walter freeman

describe a transorbital lobotomy, including effectiveness and ethics

* patient will be knocked unconscious for 5-10 mins before through electro-conclusive therapy
* ice pick is inserted through the eye socket to the frontal lobe of the brain where it is moved around to destroy connections between the prefrontal lobe an the rest of the brain - the same process happens through the other eye
* it relieved patients of distressed thoughts and behaviours, reduces agression, had the fatality rate of 6%
* side effects/ethical issues - brain seizures, lack of emotion. changes in personality, irreversible, lack of consent issues

describe a bilateral cingulotomy cingulotomy inc ethics and effectiveness

* gamma rays focus radiation to burn tissue, induces positive emotional response
* effective in 56% of ocd patients
* can lead to brain damage and seizures
* valid consent? are they in the right frame of mind?

describe cingulotomies

* incision is made in the nerves of the brain using MRI scans to help guide surgical instruments used
* used for patients with OCD where the circuit between the thalamus and the occipital lobe is found to be overactive
* no part of the brain is removed, nerves are just manipulated

describe deep brain stimulation, inc effectiveness and ethics

* thread wires through the skull, connected to a battery pack that produces a high frequency current
* may not always work but it interrupts brain circuit, it can be turned off
* side effects - seizures, altered moods
* has a reduced risk of damage

what assumption does psychosurgery link to

that behaviour can be explained by localisation of brain function - behaviours are localised to specific areas of the brain and this means that behaviours can be altered by making psychological changes in specific areas of the brain

in todays society, when is psychosurgery used

in extreme and rare cases where the patient hasn’t responded to other forms of therapy e.g. CBT or Drug therapy

what is psychosurgery used/not used with

* used - depression, anxiety, OCD
* rarely used with phobias
* not used with schizophrenia

what did szaz state about the effectiveness of psychosurgery

critisized psychosurgery in general as he believes that a persons psychological self is not something physical and therefore, it doesn’t make sense to operate on

what are the overall ethical considerations of psychosurgery

* irreversible
* can a person with an unmanageable mental illness give informed consent? can family decide for them?
* sometimes patients are as young as 18 but the brain doesnt stop developing until 25 - is it appropriate to perform such a drastic procedure on someone who inst fully developed