I remember watching the PBS documentary called “The Lobotomist” about the horror of the lobotomy movement in mental health history. Its introductory advertisements accurately define it as “a gripping tale of medical intervention gone awry.” The trailer for the documentary accurately sums up the movement, “It has come to be considered one of mainstream medicine’s most barbaric mistakes.” Portuguese neurologist Antonia Moniz performed the first lobotomy in 1935, drilling holes into a patient’s skull and pouring alcohol into the frontal cortex to sever the nerves before coring sections of the brain with hollow needles.
“It was the most brutal, barbaric, and infamous medical procedure of all time: an icepick hammered through the eye socket into the brain and “wriggled around”, often leaving the patient in a vegetative state.” – Merna Tatro
The first frontal lobotomy in the US (1936) was performed in my own state of Kansas on 63-year-old Alice Hood Hammatt, a housewife who was believed to be suffering from anxiety and depression. She died three years later. From the 1930s through the last surgery performed in 1967, the Lobotomy movement has become one of the most disastrous mistakes in the history of medicine…UNTIL NOW!
…UNTIL NOW!
One of the reasons I was interested in the documentary, “The Lobotomist” was that during my undergraduate training, I had to obtain an area of emphasis in psychology. I was not exposed to much psychology in my High School curriculum, so it was new to me. One of the shocking things I encountered early on was the evolution and correction of the Lobotomy Movement.
I did not follow Jesus at that time, but I remember some of my thoughts. “How could someone be so stupid that you can drill holes into people’s heads, remove parts of their brains, and it would cure their psychological problems?” Even my professors made it seem so stupid that educated people would have believed such an apparently ridiculous idea (even though that last one was done only about ten years prior).
I believe we are facing a similar medical/psychological craze that will eclipse the stupidity of the lobotomy movement…the Gender-Affirming Surgery Movement, especially among children and teens. The mainstream media, due to social trends/pressure, is ignoring a rising epidemic identified as “Transgender Regret.” Every day, the number of people (both professionals and victims) who are speaking out against gender-transitioning treatments and surgeries is growing exponentially, especially those who had them as children.
There is tremendous societal pressure upon children and their parents to allow them to begin gender reassignment medical procedures as early as possible, and many places are pushing these treatments without parental consent. Increasing Social media and societal peer pressure are driving this phenomenon. If you are young, you are convinced that any emotional challenge may have a connection to an improper gender identity. If you are an adult or parent, you are made to feel stupid if you think it is wrong. In the face of this cultural (and demonic) pressure, people are ignoring common sense (which is not very common anymore) and caving into this lie.
As time goes on, more youths who have had these procedures, most of which have irreversible effects, will continue to realize it did not help the psychological/emotional challenges they faced, and now there are a host of physical problems that can never be corrected.
“I thought I was saving trans kids, now I am blowing the whistle” – Jamie Reed
Many in the medical and psychological industry are speaking out. Jamie Reed, a queer woman who worked in a pediatric gender clinic in St. Louis, made the startling statement in her whistle-blowing article, “I thought I was saving trans kids, now I am blowing the whistle.” This is a queer woman, but she is brave enough to expose the problems with these medical procedures, especially with children.
In 2023 the House Judiciary Committee investigated Gender Confirmation Surgery and showed an interview with a Doctor, Dr. Blair Peters who calls himself “The Queer Doctor.” In the interview, Peters reveals the terrible effects and challenges of such a surgery. Congressman Mike Johnson played a video of Peters discussing the problems with the House Judiciary Committee. Dr Erica Anderson, a transgender psychologist, warns of the dangers of the medical treatment craze towards youth with gender identity issues. These are people from the secular and LGBTQ community sounding the alarm about the problems with medical treatments.
It breaks your heart to see more and more people, especially children, coming out to detransition as they realize they made a wrong choice. One major problem, however, is that most of the devastating effects of transitioning procedures cannot be reversed. Here is an example from the 7news Spotlight documentary aptly titled “Breaking the Silence: The Reality of De-Transitioning.”
May we pray that these barbaric atrocities are halted and that the medical and psychological community wake up, as they did with the lobotomy movement so that the irreparable damages would be stopped. May we also take steps to speak out to school boards and government officials, as well as encourage parents not to cave into such atrocities. If you are in the medical industry, SPEAK UP. If you are in education, SPEAK UP. TAKE A STAND; it may cost you, but we cannot stay silent.
Medical and Common Sense…Not Very Common!
In Romans 1, Paul reveals the state of culture as people drift further away from God. “Thinking they are wise (without God), they have become fools.” The result is that people become fools, even though they think they are wise. I say it like this: in darkness, common sense isn’t very common!
- Romans 1:20-22 GNB Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all!… their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness. (22) They say they are wise, but they are fools.
Please pray for an end to this craziness. We need to see a return to medical and societal common sense, especially regarding children, as seen in this contrast of Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan’s perspective of guiding children to decide for themselves with Andy Griffith’s age-old wisdom.
https://www.tiktok.com/@tkcs73/video/7236164313478663467