Ken Kesey's 1962 book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, permanently tarnished the public's perception of electroshock therapy and the lobotomy, raising ethical doubts about the procedures.
Sigmund Freud was an advocate and user of cocaine for its talkative and euphoric effects. Upon discovering cocaine's harmful and addictive qualities, Freud stopped using the drug in 1896.
The ice picks Dr. Freeman used to perform the first transorbital lobotomies would sometimes break in the patient's skull. Thus, the orbitoclast, a stronger tool, was born.
The Soviet Union used lobotomies as a last resort until 1950, when they were banned. The United States didn't ban the procedure until 17 years later.
Dr. Freeman performed lobotomies on 19 children under the age of 18. A famous case is Howard Dully whose stepmother pressured his father into having Howard lobotomized at age 12 in an attempt to cure what she saw as his defiant and savage behavior.