Rosemary Kennedy and the lobotomy experience
Rosemary is the little sister of the President of the United States of America, she was born on September 13, 1918, and her story is rather embarrassing for the Kennedys …
The youth of Rosemary Kennedy
The Kennedy family is part of the Bostonian upper middle class, so when very young, little Rosemary is noticed for her mental retardation and her mood disorders, the standing takes a hit, she is not hidden but we avoid exposing her too much anyway. The slight delay suffered by the little girl is due to her difficult birth, her brain was deprived of oxygen for several minutes.
During her childhood, Rosemary practiced many activities with her siblings, tennis, sailing, and was a movie fan. In the 1930s, Father Kennedy brought back reels of Hollywood movies, and Rosemary was happy to invite a few friends over for private sessions. Teenager, the young girl does not seem as bright as her brothers and sisters, and she is not faultless either, she likes the presence of boys, she likes going out to the ball … Clearly, her father was upset and her very pious mother no longer knows what to do. So when the family moved to London in 1938 following the appointment of Joseph Kennedy to the American Embassy, he was hopeful that his daughter’s escapades would be silenced …
Finally her misconduct, it is her parents who think so, Rosemary is only a teenager, perhaps not the smartest, certainly… But she does not meet the expectations of her parents, especially as — always according to her parents- his temper tantrums multiply.
Locked in the convent of the Sisters of the Assumption, Rosemary obtains a teaching diploma.
Repatriation to the United States (almost)
In 1939, faced with threats of war, the whole family returned to the United States, except Rosemary who was sent to another convent in north London. she is removed from the family so that her actions do not affect the family.
Finally, with World War II in full swing, Joseph Kennedy still finds it better for Rosemary Kennedy to leave Europe and return to the United States. In 1941, Rosemary was diagnosed with “agitated depression” and her mental health doctors suggested at her father to perform a prefrontal lobotomy.
Without telling the other members of the family, Joseph and Mary Kennedy give their approval for Rosemary’s lobotomy in the hope that she may meet their expectations both in terms of moods and intellectually, even as the practice. is still only experimental. They really want Rosemary to become a Kennedy …
Anecdotally, doctor James Watts explained in 1994, during her lobotomy, Rosemary Kennedy was only under local anesthesia so that she could test her intellectual abilities. Watts drilled a hole in his temples and with a scalpel, he cut small pieces of the brain’s prefrontal lobes. It is believed to be in this part of the brain that the moods and affections of the soul are found. At the same time a second doctor, Walter Freeman, was asking questions of the patient and as long as the answers were consistent, Watts kept cutting…. Then it was too late.
We can clearly say that it is a complete failure. Lobotomy does not give the desired effects, quite the contrary … She ends up with an IQ of a little girl and loses all autonomy. She was then placed in various psychiatric hospitals, out of sight.
When his brother, John Fitzgérald, prepared his election campaign in 1953, several journalists painted the portrait of the ideal family. Only two siblings can afford the photo and interview game, Ted, who is in the military in Europe, and Rosemary who is claimed to be a low-key schoolteacher from the northern United States. But there are going to be a few hiccups, especially when a family friend writes in a book that Rosemary takes care of retarded children, Joseph, unintentionally corrects by saying that her daughter may have contracted spinal meningitis during her pregnancy. first years. Meanwhile, Rosemary is still left out of the family. No one visits her. It was not until 1961 that Joseph had a stroke which left him hemiplegic and deprived him of his speech so that Rosemary could find some semblance of a place in the family.
In 1974, when Rose, the mother of the family published her memoirs, she wrote black on white that her daughter Rosemary Kennedy had been lobotomized and that it had been a failure.
“Joe and I consulted the best specialists, who advised us some form of neurosurgery. The operation put an end to seizures and outbursts of violence, but also made Rosemary disabled. She lost everything she had gained over the years, through her efforts and through our love. She could no longer be independent and would now need to live in the care of someone.”
Rosemary Kennedy dies at the age of 86.
