Have you ever wondered when doctors finally stopped performing lobotomies? It’s a strange and unsettling question, but asking it helps us understand how psychiatric care has changed — and why ethics and oversight matter so much. In this post we’ll answer when was the last lobotomy performed, walk through how lobotomy rose and declined, and share a few surprising facts.
The Rise—and Rapid Fall—Of Lobotomy
Lobotomy, sometimes called leucotomy, began in the 1930s as an experimental way to treat severe mental illness by disconnecting parts of the frontal lobes. Early proponents hailed it as a breakthrough, and in some places it was performed widely for decades.
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The procedure was adapted into various surgical techniques; some were invasive, while others (infamous “transorbital” methods) used a tool through the eye socket to reach the brain.
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For a time, lobotomy was promoted as a solution for extreme agitation, severe depression, and psychosis when other treatments were limited or unavailable.
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But the results were unpredictable: some patients were calmer, many suffered major personality and cognitive losses, and a proportion died from complications. Over time, the social and medical costs of the procedure became impossible to ignore.
When Was The Last Lobotomy Performed?
So when was the last lobotomy performed?
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In the United States, the most widely cited final lobotomy performed by a prominent practitioner occurred in 1967. That surgery—done by a leading figure in the field—ended in the patient’s death and effectively marked the end of that practitioner’s surgical career.
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That 1967 surgery is often treated as a symbolic endpoint for the classic lobotomy era in the U.S., but it’s not a tidy global cutoff: some institutions in other countries continued psychosurgical practices into later decades.
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Importantly, modern psychosurgery (very selective procedures used only for extreme, treatment-resistant cases) is a different, far more controlled approach and should not be confused with historical lobotomies.
Why Lobotomies Stopped
Several forces combined to end the lobotomy era:
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Better Treatments — The arrival of antipsychotic and antidepressant medications provided safer, more effective alternatives.
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Ethical Objections — Families, psychiatrists, and the public increasingly questioned the morality of irreversible brain-cutting.
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Professional and Institutional Pushback — Regulation, lost privileges for controversial practitioners, and changing medical standards curtailed the practice.
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Long-Term Outcomes — Many survivors experienced severe cognitive or emotional deficits, prompting reappraisal and regret.
Did You Know?
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The “transorbital” lobotomy could be performed quickly and even outside a full operating room, which was part of why it spread so rapidly for a time.
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Some well-known people were affected: for example, a member of a famous political family received a lobotomy earlier in the 20th century, with tragic long-term effects.
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Performing lobotomies without full informed consent was not uncommon in the mid century, a practice that later became a major ethical scandal.
Mini Q&A: Quick Answers
Q: Are lobotomies performed today?
A: Not as they were in the mid-1900s. Today, highly selective psychosurgeries exist only for a small number of severe, treatment-resistant cases and are performed under strict ethical and regulatory oversight.
Q: Was lobotomy ever federally banned?
A: There was no single worldwide ban. The decline came from changing medical practice, laws, and ethics rather than one single prohibition in many places.
Q: Did lobotomy help anyone?
A: Some patients did show reduced agitation or distress, but many suffered serious, lasting harm. The net legacy is controversial and often judged negatively today.
Personal Take
Reading about lobotomy always leaves me a little unsettled. It’s tempting to feel grateful for modern medicine, but also cautious—history shows how quickly a promising “fix” can become a cause of harm when enthusiasm outruns evidence and ethical safeguards. That uneasy mix of progress and hubris is why transparency, consent, and oversight matter so much in medical advances.
In short: the last high-profile U.S. lobotomy is recorded in 1967, and that event helped turn the tide against the practice. The era of crude brain-cutting for mental illness is a stark reminder to stay vigilant about how we treat vulnerable people. What are your thoughts — do we still risk repeating mistakes like this today?