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Lobotomy Nation

The History of Psychosurgery and Psychiatry in Denmark

  • Book
  • © 2021

Overview

Authors:
  1. Jesper Vaczy Kragh

    1. Centre for Health Research in the Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

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  • Provides the first study of the history of psychosurgery in Europe
  • Gives a full account of the development of somatic treatments in 20th century psychiatry
  • Explores the close relationship between psychiatry, medicine and society

Part of the book series: Mental Health in Historical Perspective (MHHP)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. White Incisions and Black Butterflies

    • Jesper Vaczy Kragh
    Pages 1-28

  5. The Demise of Psychosurgery

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 289-289
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    2. A Question of Consent—Coercion and Consent to Lobotomy, 1946–1958

      • Jesper Vaczy Kragh
      Pages 291-335

    3. Lobotomia Sequelae—The Side-Effects of Lobotomy, 1955–1983

      • Jesper Vaczy Kragh
      Pages 337-391

    4. The Final Cut—Summary and Conclusion

      • Jesper Vaczy Kragh
      Pages 393-424

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 425-456
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Keywords

About this book

This book tells the story of one of medicine’s most (in)famous treatments: the neurosurgical operation commonly known as lobotomy. Invented by Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz in 1935, lobotomy or psychosurgery became widely used in a number of countries, including Denmark, where the treatment had a major breakthrough. In fact, evidence suggests that more lobotomies were performed in Denmark than any other country. However, the reason behind this unofficial world record has not yet been fully understood. Lobotomy Nation traces the history of psychosurgery and its ties to other psychiatric treatments such as malaria fever therapy, Cardiazol shock and insulin coma therapy, but it also situates lobotomy within a broader context. The book argues that the rise and fall of lobotomy is not just a story about psychiatry, it is also about society, culture and interventions towards vulnerable groups in the 20th century.

Reviews

“Kragh’s monograph is more than a history of lobotomy. … Kragh is in impressive command of his source material, advancing his arguments forcefully and effectively. The book is well organized and clearly written … . Eschewing simplistic conclusions, Kragh has chosen to take the hard road of carefully analyzing psychiatric practices and contexts. As a result, his study stands head and shoulders above many lesser works. Future scholars will have no choice but to reckon with his conclusions.” (Eric J. Engstrom, H-Soz-Kult, hsozkult.de, February 3, 2023)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Centre for Health Research in the Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Jesper Vaczy Kragh

About the author

Jesper Vaczy Kragh is Senior Researcher in the Copenhagen Centre for Health Research in the Humanities (CoRe) at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has worked on research projects on the history of forensic psychiatry, Nordic psychology, drug abuse in the 19th and early 20th century and the history of vulnerable groups, 1945–1980. He is Co-Editor of the book, Social Class and Mental Illness in Northern Europe (2020).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Lobotomy Nation

  • Book Subtitle: The History of Psychosurgery and Psychiatry in Denmark

  • Authors: Jesper Vaczy Kragh

  • Series Title: Mental Health in Historical Perspective

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65306-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-65305-7Published: 10 October 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-65308-8Published: 10 October 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-65306-4Published: 09 October 2021

  • Series ISSN: 2634-6036

  • Series E-ISSN: 2634-6044

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 456

  • Number of Illustrations: 17 b/w illustrations, 5 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: History of Modern Europe, History of Medicine, Social History, Psychiatry

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