Chapter 10: Chipped
Author: Lauren Slater
Summary:
This last chapter of the book talks about the evolution of psycho surgery and about Antonio Moniz, who was the father of psycho surgery. In some of the early surgeries that he performed, he used alcohol to kill the damaged nerve tissue. Majority of his surgeries are reported to be successful but questions are raised regarding poor follow up concerning validity of the data.
Later in the chapter the author talks about a man called Charlie Newitz from Austin, Texas who suddenly showed symptoms of OCD. He tried all medications but nothing worked for him. He finally underwent psycho surgery. The surgery was successful and his OCD was gone. However, he reported feeling a little depressed after the surgery, however, it was much better than suffering from OCD.
Finally, the authors talks about psychiatric medicines like the prozac. No one really know which part of the brain it affects and how it works. Also, it does and does not help some people. Some people eventually get immune to it's effects and do not show improvements. Most times, it's just trial an error.
Discussion:
I think I oppose both medications and surgery. I believe, they both must be avoided if the condition is not bothering the person. However, if the condition worsens then the person has to take the drugs. Surgery should be left as a last resort since brain is such a delicate organ. Once small mistake can cost a life and such mistakes can't be undone. But overall, it looks like these days psych surgery has evolved considerably and doctors have good knowledge about the brain and even the tools are more sophisticated. So, today it's probably not as risky as it was before.
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