The young man who was simply identified as George (his identity was hidden) in the report in which his case appeared in the Physician’s Weekly, suffered from Severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry; by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety; or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions.
Symptoms of the disorder include excessive washing or cleaning; repeated checking; extreme hoarding; preoccupation with sexual, violent or religious thoughts; relationship-related obsessions; aversion to particular numbers; and nervous rituals, such as opening and closing a door a certain number of times before entering or leaving a room. These symptoms can distance sufferers from friends and family and are time-consuming.
As for George, he had an obsessive fear of germs. George would wash his hands about 50 times a day, take four hour showers and check several times to see whether doors and windows were locked. The condition of the former straight-A student was so serious that he could not attend school or hold down a job. His doctor, Dr. Leslie Solymon had been treating him unsuccessfully for over a year until one fateful day when George decided to end it all.
While in a bout of depression and prompted by unkind words from his mother who was sick of George’s complaining, George went down to the basement and shot himself in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. George was rushed to the hospital after been found lying on his face with blood oozing out of his nostrils. The bullet had lodged itself in the left front lobe of his brain. Surgeons were able to retrieve it but could not get out all the fragments.
After the surgery, George no longer exhibited any sign of compulsive disorder. He also retained the same I.Q he had before becoming ill with obsessive-compulsive disorder and his personality did not change. He returned to school, got a job and gained admission into college. It turned out that George had accidentally given himself a crude lobotomy or more precisely a leucotomy- a severing of the links between the frontal lobes and other parts of the brain- rather than removal of brain tissues, as done in lobotomies.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is believed to be limited to the left side of the brain and George’s suicide attempt had miraculously cured his disorder.
Don't take our word for it? Confirm at any of the Links below
1. Brain Wound Eliminates Man's Mental Illness
2. Suicide Try Cures Man's Compulsion
3. .22-Caliber Surgery : Suicide Bid Cures Psychological Disorder, Doctor Reports
No comments:
Post a Comment