Lobotomies Were Brutal Procedures — And Seeing One Happen May Scar You For Life

Lobotomies were brutal procedures that involved doctors sticking metal instruments into patients’ brains and severing connections in the frontal lobe. It may sound medieval, but it actually wasn’t that long ago that lobotomies were being performed regularly.

The following video is a brutal demonstration of the lobotomy procedure that was used on 20,000 patients between 1940 and 1951.

Not only was this the standard procedure for treating mental disorders, but it was also heralded as a great innovation. The man who invented lobotomies, António Egas Moniz, even won a Nobel Prize. Just let that sink in.