Psychosurgery in Italy, 1936-39

In 1936 Egas Moniz introduced a new method for treating mental illness--psychosurgery. This new procedure was taken up immediately in a number of countries, including Italy. In most countries its introduction was slow and the numbers of operations were in single figures, but in Italy the introduction was rapid and around a dozen neuropsychiatrists reported much higher numbers of operations performed. Also in Italy the first innovations to the technique, notably the transorbital variation, were introduced. Moreover, all these activities took place without any sign of the protest seen elsewhere. Conditions that allowed the acceptance of this risky procedure seemed to be a consequence of the way in which the professions of neurology and psychiatry had been merged in Italy.