At one point in my life, I worked schlepping charts in the local teaching hospital for the neurological surgery department. Main thing I learned was don't try to commit suicide by gunshot wound to the head and fail in your attempt. Also learned that nearly every patient* in a teaching hospital will sue for malpractice; it's the only hope they have of paying for their care.
* Or so it seemed, anyway. posted by maxwelton at 4:06 AM on May 27, 2008
"Nail gun brain injuries are commonly intentionally self-inflicted."
I do not understand your ways, nail-in-the-brain guys. I do not understand them at all. posted by dersins at 4:10 AM on May 27, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]
Here I am pondering how it is physically possible for a man to hammer 10 nails into his own skull, without wondering why. You've changed me, internet. posted by tehloki at 4:44 AM on May 27, 2008
Look at that profile picture. Prince is getting his masters in neuroscience. Maybe he is God. posted by stavrogin at 5:17 AM on May 27, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]
Dave: Ah yes, Darcy. Well, what I've done for this dress is I've designed a hat that I call "The Spike in the Head." (Shows next sketch of an ugly, overweight woman with a large spike through her head.) Quite simply, it's a spike driven into the woman's head. Very simple. Very painful. But! The ugly woman deserves only the most painful.
Kevin: I love hats, but I don't have a hat face. posted by Pollomacho at 5:25 AM on May 27, 2008
So: the symbol of the MeFi party is a blue flag emblazoned with a hammer and Advil? posted by eriko at 5:53 AM on May 27, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]
... having claimed to have hammered several nails through his skull over a three month period... He had concealed the injuries by wearing a hat.
As an archaeology student though, the seminar on trepanation was one of funnest ones we had, up there with the one that looked at (the lack of) ancient dentistry. The resilience of the human body amazes me. posted by Helga-woo at 6:36 AM on May 27, 2008
Wow, that Neurophilosophy blog is very cool. Could turn this entry into an FPP also. posted by kisch mokusch at 6:59 AM on May 27, 2008
Ow! Those pictures made my head hurt. The guy who drilled the hole in his head and "introduced" the wire from the spiral notebook was my favorite. What on earth could he have been thinking? posted by Forktine at 7:17 AM on May 27, 2008
That "asbestos" fragment looks to me like a piece of a shattered metal cutting wheel (can any Portuguese readers confirm?). Maybe I should revise this advice. posted by flabdablet at 8:02 AM on May 27, 2008
Or: Do Not Attempt Suicide With a .32 (Unless Your Name Is Adolf) posted by vorfeed at 10:05 AM on May 27, 2008
An Unusual Brain Injury.
What's so unusual about that, unless this was the first documented case of someone having survived a gunshot to the head? posted by deanc at 10:18 AM on May 27, 2008
What's so unusual about that, unless this was the first documented case of someone having survived a gunshot to the head?
True, but it's not very usual for someone to survive a shot through the head. posted by Pollomacho at 11:07 AM on May 27, 2008
An Unusual Brain Injury
"There was no tendency, as a matter of fact, for a formation of a brain fungus at either wound."
Did the mods just fix a bad link from the OP, fearfulsymmetry, or do you have a penetrating brain injury? posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:23 PM on May 27, 2008
Ouch. I'm guessing that a nail to the head is generally a bad lifestyle choice. posted by triv at 1:08 PM on May 27, 2008
The best thing about this is, when the guy was driving those first nails home, he probably missed a few times and hit his thumb and it really hurt. posted by turgid dahlia at 3:16 PM on May 27, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]
A 32-year-old Caucasian male with a history of repeated self-injury drilled a hole in his skull using a power tool and subsequently introduced intracerebrally a binding wire from a sketchpad.
Nice to see some creativity from the self-inflicting crowd. I'm so tired of people cutting up their arms or putting cigarettes out on their hand. posted by brevator at 4:14 PM on May 27, 2008
That "asbestos" fragment looks to me like a piece of a shattered metal cutting wheel (can any Portuguese readers confirm?).
It's from a "disco de polir pedra sabão", which means "a disc for polishing soapstone." posted by jewzilla at 8:05 PM on May 27, 2008
Interesting post, farishta, yet so sad to think of the people with the self-inflicted injuries who must have hurt so much emotionally to do this.
From Incas: By that time, the procedure appears to have been stabdardized, as its practitioners operated only on certain parts of the skull, and avoided other areas...
My "Brain and Human Behavior" professor (I went to hipster burnout art school. We has a "science" minor. Not biology. Not chemistry. Just "science") said the best way to inflict fatal damage to the brain is to aim for the medulla oblongata. "That's why putting a gun in your mouth works."
Um, I just realized right now that he was incredibly embittered about teaching science to rich kids who couldn't give a damn, and was probably subtlety telling us to kill ourselves. Bravo, Vinoth!
Anyway, I'm psyched to read this illustrated history of trepanation now. Man. I wish I'd known about this blog before -- so many slow afternoons wasted by napping at my desk. Thanks farishta! posted by giraffe at 5:58 AM on May 28, 2008
« Older
History is a Weapon...
| Planet Mechanics Dick Strawbri...
Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Subscribe
At one point in my life, I worked schlepping charts in the local teaching hospital for the neurological surgery department. Main thing I learned was don't try to commit suicide by gunshot wound to the head and fail in your attempt. Also learned that nearly every patient* in a teaching hospital will sue for malpractice; it's the only hope they have of paying for their care.
* Or so it seemed, anyway.
posted by maxwelton at 4:06 AM on May 27, 2008