Research Paper On Rosemary Kennedy Lobotomy

Many people know a family, friend or other loved one who has struggled with a mental disease. Rosemary Kennedy from the famous Kennedy family struggled with a mental disease of her own but it went unnoticed by the general public. With her parents not knowing how to handle it, she went through a lobotomy that changed her life forever. This as well remained hidden. Because of the social status of the Kennedy’s, Rosemary was hidden, but what happened to her changed the whole nation. As previously stated, Rosemary wasn’t as well-known as the rest of her family for she was to remain hidden. In a New York Times article by Meryl Gordon, she explains, “She has been treated as an afterthought, a secondary character kept out of sight during the pivotal

After her illness got out of hand, her parents desperate for a treatment made the executive decision to have Rosemary undergo a lobotomy. A lobotomy is “a neurosurgical operation that involves severing connections in the brain’s prefrontal lobe” (Lewis). This was supposed to cure mental illness but in most cases it didn’t. Usually the disease would get worse. This was the same for Rosemary. During the surgery, she was awake singing songs and reciting poems as they hammered into eyes with ice picks and scraped away at the connections with metal spatulas. When she stopped talking and singing, they knew the surgery was done and that it didn’t work(Gordon). Rosemary lost her ability to speak and move. After months of therapy, she only regained strength in one arm, walked with a major limp, and was still not able to speak very well. Shortly after the surgery, she was sent to a Psychiatric hospital that was a church ran facility. She didn’t see her family for 20 years. They had abandoned her. After 20 years, her mother finally came to visit but out of frustration and a feeling of betrayal, Rosemary acted out and attacked her. This lobotomy changed her for the

Lyz Lenz in a Marie Claire article says, “Rosemary Kennedy’s legacy is not a story of tragedy—it’s a story of quiet power that would eventually change the quality of life for disabled and mentally ill people across the country.” Her experience gave the whole nation a wakeup call. The ways things were handled when it came to mental disabilities needed to change. Her sister became the most passionate about the cause. Meryl Gordon states, “Horrified by what happened to her sister, Eunice became a passionate champion for people with disabilities.” Eunice Shriver founded the Special Olympics. She provided a way for those with disabilities to gather with others just like them and compete in athletic competitions. She also was able to convince her father to fund research on mental health. Not long after John F. Kennedy became president, he signed the Mental Retardation Amendment to the Social Security acts and established the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Her younger brother Ted, who was only 9 when she was abandoned by her family, even wanted to help. As a senator, he sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act. The way mental illness was viewed changed because of her. Today there are multiple treatments and much more awareness and most all of it is because of Rosemary Kennedy. She went through a lot but in the end, it was for a good