Bizarre Magazine was an alternative British publication that focused primarily on unusual, unconventional, and often controversial topics. First published in 1997, the magazine remained active until 2015. It was known for covering subjects outside the mainstream, including subcultures, extreme body modifications, unusual fetishes, occultism, and various marginal lifestyles.
Bizzare Magazine, no.81, p. 46 :
Cranial trepanation, which involves making a hole in the skull and removing bone fragments, leaving an opening in the head, is increasingly used as a “medical cure” for a variety of conditions.
These images show a drug addict undergoing this controversial procedure in a desperate attempt to free themselves from their addiction. First, their head is shaved and marked with a cross drawn with a marker, then the skin is incised to create four triangular flaps, which are lifted to expose the skull. Next, the senior surgeon drills a hole into the skull.
The drilling process is extremely delicate: think of how many times you’ve gone through a wall with a drill while trying to mount a shelf.
If the tool advances even a millimeter too far, the patient risks serious and permanent brain damage. The dangers—bone fragments detaching into cranial fluid, infection-related complications, accidental lobotomy, death—are all part of a procedure that many devotees consider one of the few truly “mysterious” cures available.
Cranial trepanation is used to treat depression, drug addiction, fatigue, migraines, and even to break habits such as smoking.
It is a highly controversial method, and many doctors deny that it has any practical value beyond emergency surgeries to relieve brain pressure caused by swelling or blood clots
There are many theories as to why trepanation “works.” These range from almost mystical ideas about improved reception of divine light/cosmic energy/radio waves, to more prosaic calculations regarding the release of pressure within the cranial cavity. None of these theories has gained widespread consensus.
A British neurosurgeon told us: “The closest comparison is electroshock therapy. Some respond positively, particularly chronic and debilitated depressives, but others do not. We don’t know why—just like with trepanation. It may simply be that the patient feels they have experienced and survived a potentially dangerous and highly ritualistic event, even a near-death experience. This can drastically alter people’s perspective, their view of life, and their presence in the world. Beyond that, no one knows why it seems to work when it works.”
Ancient skulls from the Middle East, Asia, and Europe have been found with trepanation holes, the oldest dating back nearly 8,000 years.
Until the 1970s, it was prescribed as a “cure” for “sexual disorders” (including fetishism, homosexuality, and addiction) and other forms of “antisocial” or “degenerate” behavior.
Although it has been debated and discredited many times, trepanation is not going away and is increasingly seen as a recreational activity rather than a medical treatment. The main advocate of modern trepanation is Bart Huges, a Dutch researcher who believes that as children our skulls are soft, allowing the brain to grow. As we age, our brain remains trapped in a rigid skull. Trepanation, according to Huges, restores that lost freedom.
In his book Bore Hole, Joe Mellen writes: “I drilled a hole in my skull to achieve a permanent state of euphoria.” Details about what exactly his “high” entails are vague, beyond a general sense of “extraordinary well-being,” and doctors are skeptical. Some claim the process is nothing more than an “extreme body piercing.” But if you ask at a body modification studio, they are obligated to inform you.
And seriously: do not try this at home.