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Copyright 2006 www.stopdepressiontoday.com
In very rare cases of depression
where all other treatments have failed, careful neurosurgical
interruption of brain pathways has been shown to help about 50% of
patients. The neurosurgical procedures are done under the
control of exact three dimensional measurements (stereotactic) so that
the interruption of brain pathways is precisely defined and
limited. The techniques are surprisingly safe and seldom cause
complications in the form of personality change or epilepsy.
Death as a result of this surgery is rare.
Although
clearly not to be undertaken lightly, psychosurgery has a place in the
treatment of the most difficult cases of depression.
Psychosurgery should never be recommended until and unless all other
treatments had been given a full trial and found to be
ineffective. In addition, psychosurgery should never be
recommended until at least 2 years have passed, during which the full
spectrum of alternative treatments had been tried and a spontaneous
remission had failed to appear. Even then, the surgery should be
performed only for patients with severe depression that is causing them
extreme distress or disability.
Psychosurgery: A Last Resort For Treatment Of Depression