Discussion Intentional brain damage to relieve intrusive thoughts/emotions?

[thetwilightzone]

I was thinking of this, you might say this is one of the stupidest things you've heard but...hear me out.

I've always seen this stories of someone getting shot at the side/front of the head and usually losing their memory or in one rare case, a guy attempted suicide and failed but succeeded in curing his OCD by blowing a hole in the front (which is why he wanted to die).

There's also electroshock therapy which has a stigma but is known to work in patients who voluntarily seek it.

I've thought of taking pain killers and exposing my front and side of head only to trauma. I know how serious brain damage can be (paralysis, blindness, deafness) so I wont hit random parts but just slowly shock and bump hard objects onto my head. Preferably after taking codeine and alcohol to numb the pain beforehand.

I hope to either forget all my memories or become (though unlikely) like a sociopath/psychopath who seem to be immune to emotions.

 

[Aaron Josef]

I don't think you become a sociopath/psychopath, you either are or aren't.
I like your thinking outside the box.
The honest best way to accomplish the feeling you want is to take stupid amounts of Xanax & Flexeril

 

[thetwilightzone]

I don't think you become a sociopath/psychopath, you either are or aren't.
I like your thinking outside the box.
The honest best way to accomplish the feeling you want is to take stupid amounts of Xanax & Flexeril

unfortunately I have no Xanax.

 

[Aaron Josef]

unfortunately I have no Xanax.

You could get a Prescription?

 

[thetwilightzone]

You could get a Prescription?

Yea...that's not gonna happen with the doctors here in Ireland. GP's in the UK/Ireland would only give you benzos if you terminally ill and have a panic attack about death. I had an old doc who gave me them but unfortunately I forged them and now I'm presumably banned from his practice.

 

[Aaron Josef]

Yea...that's not gonna happen with the doctors here in Ireland. GP's in the UK/Ireland would only give you benzos if you terminally ill and have a panic attack about death. I had an old doc who gave me them but unfortunately I forged them and now I'm presumably banned from his practice.

Sorry.

 

[onewayroad]

I was thinking of this, you might say this is one of the stupidest things you've heard but...hear me out.

I've always seen this stories of someone getting shot at the side/front of the head and usually losing their memory or in one rare case, a guy attempted suicide and failed but succeeded in curing his OCD by blowing a hole in the front (which is why he wanted to die).

There's also electroshock therapy which has a stigma but is known to work in patients who voluntarily seek it.

I've thought of taking pain killers and exposing my front and side of head only to trauma. I know how serious brain damage can be (paralysis, blindness, deafness) so I wont hit random parts but just slowly shock and bump hard objects onto my head. Preferably after taking codeine and alcohol to numb the pain beforehand.

I hope to either forget all my memories or become (though unlikely) like a sociopath/psychopath who seem to be immune to emotions.

Hi thetwilightzone.

I am a neuroscientist (well, bachelor of science and master of science in neuroscience) and I would have to advise against attempting brain damage. Electroshock therapy has indeed come a long way and is nothing like what most people imagine it to be, it does not actually cause any damage to the brain. I would recommend trying it. But attempting to give yourself brain damage is a bad idea. The most likely outcome if you succeed is that you will damage something like a speech center or motor center leaving you unable to talk properly or at all, or paralyzed to some extent. Most likely you will have some kind of reduced function in your life but the same emotional state. It would be very difficult to target specific regions involved in emotion, and memory is primarily regulated by a deep brain structure (the hippocampus) which could potentially be hit by a bullet, but would be impossible to damage with trauma.

I don't think this idea is necessarily 'stupid' because I see your logic, but I can guarantee you that to get the outcome you want you would need somebody to perform brain surgery on you and ablate specific brain regions. If you try to give yourself brain damage, you will end up worse off, potentially in a state where you are suffering immensely but do not have the ability to end your life. I studied the brain for six years and I definitely know what I'm talking about.

Hope this helps.

 

[Roulette]

That's so cool, an actual neuroscientist is here

 

[onewayroad]

That's so cool, an actual neuroscientist is here

Aww thanks. I don't know how useful my knowledge will be but I have some time before I can ctb so I will probably be here for a few months at least. I hope I can help in any way I can. If you have any questions I would be happy to hear them.

 

[Cold]

Have you looked up a lobotomy or perhaps trepanation?

 

[hunter_lewis]

I was thinking of this, you might say this is one of the stupidest things you've heard but...hear me out.

I've always seen this stories of someone getting shot at the side/front of the head and usually losing their memory or in one rare case, a guy attempted suicide and failed but succeeded in curing his OCD by blowing a hole in the front (which is why he wanted to die).

There's also electroshock therapy which has a stigma but is known to work in patients who voluntarily seek it.

I've thought of taking pain killers and exposing my front and side of head only to trauma. I know how serious brain damage can be (paralysis, blindness, deafness) so I wont hit random parts but just slowly shock and bump hard objects onto my head. Preferably after taking codeine and alcohol to numb the pain beforehand.

I hope to either forget all my memories or become (though unlikely) like a sociopath/psychopath who seem to be immune to emotions.

It's not going to work-all it will give you is a terrible headache. My BF had a glass bottle struck down on his head with a lot of force and all he got was a concussion, several days in the hospital and a headache for 3 weeks. It had no effect on his memory.
There are ways to deal with intrusive thoughts like medications and psychotherapy. I also had intrusive thoughts and was able to get rid of them.

 

[Justanotherconsumer]

Hmm,
I used to have terrible GAD generalized anxiety disorder, hands would uncontrollably shake,constant stress like you were in a war zone, but after a failed co attempt it all went away. Although im not as sharp as i used to be, like my thinking seems slower.

 

[Tragoedia Vitae]

Oh my goodness, I experience those intrusive thoughts and feelings practically every other minute. Targeted brain damage (if there was actually such a thing!) would be wonderful. I don't really see any other way of escaping from all those unwanted and unhappy thoughts. Several times I have thought about putting a dynamite stick in my mouth and lighting it up....blowing my own head up should guarantee an instantaneous death, right? :p

 

[worldexploder]

I don't see this ending well. If you're going to try and physically effect your brain you may as well try Deep Brain Simulation. The worst that could happen is nothing. For some people it cures many of their symptoms,

 

[Trashcan]

It would be nice if there was some surgical procedure or something that could cure mental disorders.

 

[Lra888]

Yea...that's not gonna happen with the doctors here in Ireland. GP's in the UK/Ireland would only give you benzos if you terminally ill and have a panic attack about death. I had an old doc who gave me them but unfortunately I forged them and now I'm presumably banned from his practice.

In America it's easy from my experience. Doctors are a business and competing for patients - they know that if they don't give me what I want (within reason) - I'll just drop them and go somewhere else. At least in the city where I am and there's prob several psych docs within a couple of minutes of each other.

 

[Lra888]

I was thinking of this, you might say this is one of the stupidest things you've heard but...hear me out.

I've always seen this stories of someone getting shot at the side/front of the head and usually losing their memory or in one rare case, a guy attempted suicide and failed but succeeded in curing his OCD by blowing a hole in the front (which is why he wanted to die).

There's also electroshock therapy which has a stigma but is known to work in patients who voluntarily seek it.

I've thought of taking pain killers and exposing my front and side of head only to trauma. I know how serious brain damage can be (paralysis, blindness, deafness) so I wont hit random parts but just slowly shock and bump hard objects onto my head. Preferably after taking codeine and alcohol to numb the pain beforehand.

I hope to either forget all my memories or become (though unlikely) like a sociopath/psychopath who seem to be immune to emotions.

Like a labotomy?