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A brain surgeon begins an anterior cingulotomy by drilling a small hole into a patient's skull. The surgeon then inserts a tiny blade, cutting a path through brain tissue, then inserts a probe past sensitive nerves and bundles of blood vessels until it reaches a specific cluster of neural connections, a kind of switchboard linking emotional triggers to cognitive tasks. With the probe in place, the surgeon fires up a laser, burning away tissue until the beam has hollowed out about half a teaspoon of grey matter.
This is the shape of modern psychosurgery: Ablating parts of the brain to treat mental illnesses. Which might remind you of that maligned procedure, the lobotomy. But psychosurgeries are different. And not just because the ethics are better today; because the procedures actually work. Removing parts of a person's brain is always a dicey proposition. But for people who are mentally ill, when pills and psychiatry offer no solace, the laser-tipped probe can be a welcome relief.
Original Submission
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2015, @12:18AM
Mental illness law has certainly been abused historically, but there are real mental illnesses that rob people of the ability to see that they are ill, and those people won't seek help on their own.
Some years ago, a police officer threw me to the ground and almost literally dragged me into a hospital. I wasn't doing anything illegal at the time, except probably crossing against several traffic lights since I wasn't looking where I was going and was completely unresponsive when anyone talked to me. Though the treatment after that was technically "voluntary", I consented only because I knew they would have done it anyway.
If those police hadn't thrown me to the ground and involuntarily forced me into treatment, I'd probably be dead today. Instead, I've recovered. I have a good job, live independently, and am completely asymptomatic. I'm not "cured", because I'm still on medication, but I'm as close to cured as is possible with my condition.
Anytime the government does anything, there is the potential for abuse. But doing nothing has costs, too.