Editing Trepanning (section)

== Voluntary trepanation ==
Since the early 1960s, voluntary trepanation has been performed by people interested in "enhancing mental power and well-being".<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=André |first=Charles |date=2017 |title=Evolving story: trepanation and self-trepanation to enhance brain function |journal=Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria |language=en |volume=75 |issue=5 |pages=307–313 |doi=10.1590/0004-282X20170040 |pmid=28591391 |issn=0004-282X|doi-access=free }}</ref> The practice of trepanning also continues today due to belief in various [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] medical benefits.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/drilling-a-hole-in-your-head-for-a-higher-state-of-consciousness/ |title=An Interview with the Woman Who Drilled a Hole in Her Head to Open Up Her Mind |author=Joseph Cox |date=August 14, 2013 |access-date=2013-08-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917195052/http://www.vice.com/en_au/read/drilling-a-hole-in-your-head-for-a-higher-state-of-consciousness |archive-date=2016-09-17 }}</ref> For example, some have tried trepanation as a means of emulating the "[[third eye]]", in order to achieve [[clairvoyance]] or as a means of maintaining a "permanent state of [[euphoria]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilcock |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqFsAAAAMAAJ&q=trepanation+occult |title=An Occult Guide to South America |date=1976 |publisher=Book Division of Laurel Tape & Film; Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.: this ed. distributed by Stein & Day |page=65 |isbn=978-0-8128-2107-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=DeMello |first=Margo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0122BsqrZwC&pg=PA286 |title=Encyclopedia of Body Adornment |date=2007 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-33695-9 |page=286 |language=en}}</ref> Other proponents claim that trepanning results in increased blood flow.<ref>Frood, Arran. [https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227121.400-like-a-hole-in-the-head-the-return-of-trepanation.html?full=true "Like a hole in the head: The return of trepanation "] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202154057/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227121.400-like-a-hole-in-the-head-the-return-of-trepanation.html?full=true|date=February 2, 2014}} February 2, 2014, at the [[Wayback Machine]]. ''[[New Scientist]]'' (17 June 2009)</ref> Individuals have practiced non-emergency trepanning for psychological purposes. A prominent proponent of the modern view is Peter Halvorson, who drilled a hole in the front of his own skull to increase "brain blood volume".<ref name="restak2000" />

One of the most prominent advocates of trepanning was [[Netherlands|Dutch]] librarian [[Bart Huges]]. In 1965, Huges drilled a hole in his own head with a dentist drill as a publicity stunt. Huges claimed that trepanning increases "brain blood volume" and thereby enhances cerebral metabolism in a manner similar to cerebral [[vasodilators]] such as [[ginkgo biloba]]. These claims are unsubstantiated by research. Huges and his girlfriend also made several comic books in the 1970s, which promoted trepanation.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/d/dijk_eveline-van.htm | title=Eveline van Dijk}}</ref>

In a chapter of his book ''Eccentric Lives & Peculiar Notions'', esotericist [[John Michell (writer)|John Michell]] cites Huges as pioneering the idea of trepanning in his 1962 monograph, ''Homo Sapiens Correctus'', which is often cited by advocates of self-trepanation. Among other arguments, Huges contends that children have a higher state of consciousness and since children's skulls are not fully closed, one can return to an earlier, childlike state of consciousness by self-trepanation. Further, by allowing the brain to freely pulsate Huges argues that a number of benefits will accrue.

Michell quotes [[Joey Mellen|Joey Mellen's]] book, ''Bore Hole''.  At the time the passage below was written, Joey and his partner, [[Amanda Feilding]], had made two previous attempts at trepanning Mellen.  The second attempt ended up placing Mellen in the hospital, where he was reprimanded severely and sent for psychiatric evaluation.  After he returned home, Mellen decided to try again.  He describes his third attempt at self-trepanation:

<blockquote>After some time there was an ominous sounding schlurp and the sound of bubbling. I drew the trepan out and the gurgling continued. It sounded like air bubbles running under the skull as they were pressed out. I looked at the trepan and there was a bit of bone in it. At last!</blockquote>

Feilding also performed a self-trepanation with a drill, while Mellen shot the operation for the short film ''[[Heartbeat in the Brain]]'', which was long thought to have been lost. Portions of the film can be seen in the documentary ''[[A Hole in the Head (1998 film)|A Hole in the Head]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-man-who-drilled-a-hole-in-his-own-skull-to-stay-high-forever/ |title=I Drilled a Hole in My Own Skull to Stay High Forever |access-date=2016-02-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826054415/http://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-man-who-drilled-a-hole-in-his-own-skull-to-stay-high-forever |archive-date=2016-08-26 |author=John Doran |date=February 12, 2016}}</ref>

Michell also describes a British group that advocates self-trepanation to allow the brain access to more space and oxygen. Other modern practitioners of trepanation claim that it holds other medical benefits, such as relief from depression and from other psychological ailments. In 2000, two men from [[Cedar City, Utah]], were prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license after they performed a trepanation on an English woman to treat her [[Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome|chronic fatigue syndrome]] and [[Clinical depression|depression]].<ref>[http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/abc-ordered-hand-over-unedited-head-drilling-tapes Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (2000) ''ABC ordered to hand over unedited head-drilling tapes''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823161314/http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/abc-ordered-hand-over-unedited-head-drilling-tapes |date=August 23, 2016 }} August 23, 2016, at the [[Wayback Machine]].</ref>

In 2023, Michael Raduga, a Russian lucid dreaming researcher, performed self-neurosurgery that included trepanation, electrode implantation, and electrical stimulation of the motor cortex. The goal was to stimulate the brain during REM sleep, sleep paralysis, and lucid dreams.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russian-implants-chip-brain-control-dreams-hospital-1814256 |work=Newsweek |date=July 20, 2023|title=Man Implants Chip in His Brain to Help 'Control' His Dreams}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.elpais.com.co/mundo/aterrador-para-controlar-sus-suenos-hombre-se-perfora-su-propio-craneo-2044.html |work=El Pais |date=July 23, 2023|title=Aterrador: para "controlar sus sueños" hombre se perfora su propio cráneo}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://heraldodemexico.com.mx/tendencias/2023/7/19/insolito-se-realizo-una-cirugia-cerebral-si-mismo-para-controlar-los-suenos-523440.html |work=El Heraldo |date=July 19, 2023|title=Insólito: se realizó una cirugía cerebral a sí mismo "para controlar los sueños"}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.mk.ru/social/2023/07/20/issledovatel-raduga-rasskazal-kak-prosverlil-sebe-cherep-dlya-upravleniya-snami-priblizil-budushhee.html |work=Московский Комсомолец |date=July 20, 2023|title=Исследователь Радуга рассказал, как просверлил себе череп для управления снами: "Приблизил будущее"}}</ref>