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Old 26 May 2009, 03:37 AM
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Icon07 Frontal lobotomy seduction

Comment: Sixty years ago much attention followed the then-new
psychosurgical procedure called "prefrontal lobotomy." Claims were made
for it. It may have helped some. But when failure occured it was
disastrous e.g one of the many Kennedy children got worse instead of
better.

It was rumored that a pretty but troubled young Hollywood actress had
undergone the procedure, and then been "placed" in a club-like social
environment in which the fees were based, in part, on the ease with which
this young woman could be seduced. I first heard this rumor about 40
years ago, including the name of an actress; I hadn't seen in a long time
and have since forgotten altogether.

Did it happen ? (I realize it would make a hell of a scary movie now !)
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Old 26 May 2009, 02:06 PM
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'Pretty but troubled' actress... that'd most likely be Frances Farmer, popularly thought to have received the prefrontal ice-pick c.1944. There's no evidence she did, although she was certainly incarcerated (and thus probably subject to some hair-raising procedures common at the time). The sensationalised account of her hospitalisation includes stories of sex-slavery although it was for doctors and hospital staff rather than paying customers, and 'ease of seduction' would have been irrelevant.
I will not dispute that lobotomies are scary.
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