Podcasts

Futureproof Gold: A Flick of the Wrist

For years people struggling with their mental health had nowhere to go. No one to speak to. Thankfully we've made great strides in relation to tackling mental illness in Ireland and while there is always more that we can do, destigmatising mental issues has been at the forefront of that battle. But what if it was the treatment not the disorder, which was the source of shame, confusion, and stigma? Such was the case when Jonathan and the Futureproof team sought to explore the murky history of one of the most caricatured and brutal forms of treatment for those suffering from severe depression and psychiatric illnesses - the frontal lobotomy. We look back at our special documentary 'A Flick of the Wrist', and hear from one of the few people to come out the other side of the procedure seemingly unharmed, take a walk through what was once Ireland's centre for brain surgery - the Richmond Hospital in Dublin, and hear about the man who helped popularise the procedure, and was the primary advocate for its implementation - Dr Walter Freemen II. First aired Saturday May 30th, 2015.     see more