Trepanation

[SUBMAN1]

Weird! Now I've heard of everything!

-S

Trepanation

You Need This Like You Need a Hole in Your Head!


On April 10, 2001 it was reported that Two Utah men had plead guilty to practicing medicine without a license after it was discovered they had drilled holes into a woman's skull in order to relieve her symptoms of chronic fatigue and depression. Peter Halvorson, 54, and William Lyons, 56, were placed on three years' probation, fined $500 and ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation. The woman, Heather Perry from Glouchester, England, claims she has experienced "definite improvement" in her health since the procedure was done. Does this story sound too bizarre to believe? Well, believe it.


What Is Trepanation?
Trepanation, alternately spelled trephination, is a practice which hails back to ancient times when it was believed that mental illness was caused by the presence of evil spirits within the head. This primitive surgical technique, which involved chiseling a hole in the skull, was intended to release these malevolent spirits. Modern practitioners, preferring the use of electric drills and anesthesia, contend that this seemingly barbaric operation improves blood flow to the brain. Claimed benefits include relief from anxiety, stress, headaches and depression as well as a higher level of consciousness and improved mental acuity.


Modern Trepanation Movement
The modern trepanation movement began n 1962 when a Dutch doctor named Bart Hughes developed the hypothesis that as we mature and age our skulls harden, restricting blow flow to the brain. He reasoned that children, especially babies with their "soft spot", had a more clear outlook on the world because their brains were free to receive more blood volume that our adult brains. Following this chain of thought, Hughes, and others who espouse this theory, believe that creating an opening in the skull to allow for full expansion of the brain with blood can lead to feelings of well-being and clearer thought.


The Web site of ITAG (The International Trepanation Advocacy Group), which is an organization that is campaigning for the acceptance of trepanation, boasts only six case histories of people who have been voluntarily trepanned. The general consensus among these few individuals, however, seems to be that it has created marvelous differences in their quality of life. Betty Lyons, who was trepanned just last year, claims that trepanation has freed her from her daily dose of Prozac. Chris Emery is another recent graduate of the surgery who claims relief from depression.


Peter Halvorson, one of the two men who was charged with practicing medicine without a license, is a strong advocate of trepanation as a cure for depression. He says, "It gets you high, but it is a beneficial, non-distorted reality; not like the kind of high you get with poisonous drugs."


Halvorson performed his own trepanation in 1972 following instructions he says were given to him by a surgeon who was unwilling to perform the procedure for him. He does not advocate that anyone do this surgery for themselves, saying that it is too dangerous. He, along with about 60 others who have had the surgery, are campaigning for the medical community to recognize the benefits of the procedure so that people can get it done safely by professionals.


Conclusion
Could it be that our primitive ancestors, despite their superstitious belief in evil spirits, stumbled upon a surgical intervention that really does cure depression? Certainly, compared to sending volts of electricity through the brain it doesn't seem that barbaric, does it? Will psychiatrists of the future prefer augers and drills to therapy and pills? What a fascinating twist of fate it would be if our modern-day medicine were to be supplanted by methods of healing we had previously cast off as "primitive" and "barbaric".

http://depression.about.com/cs/treat...repanation.htm

[Sailor Steve]

Gaaah! Leech-bleeding for the brain!

My depression's not that bad. Honest.

[SUBMAN1]

I was searching on MG's and came across that. Looking for a law that repealed the ban on MG's! nice huh?

-S

[jpm1]

it reminds me the persons in an experience which were healed and recovered with empty capsules amazing to see how the psycological controls the physical

[STEED]

Well they were not feltching..............