Bump in the head makes one horny?

This is really strange. A man suffered from a fall while at work and “the injury unleashed a libido that could not be kept in check.” What’s even more strange is that he sued his employer and received a whopping £3 million ($6.2 million) in damages.

Stephen Tame, 29, had been married for eight months when he fell from a gantry at the cycle warehouse. He was in a coma for 53 days and spent nine months in hospital.

The accident was in January 2002 and after a long spell in a rehabilitation unit, he went home to Wickford, Essex, two and a half years later.

“His life and the life of his young wife were shattered,” Judge Michael Harris told the High Court. “He was expected to die but, miraculously, his life has slowly returned.”

But Mr Tame’s frontal lobe was damaged, causing inappropriate sexual behaviour which threatens his marriage.

“He says embarrassing things and he misbehaves in the presence of females. He watches pornographic sites and finds it difficult to stop doing things even when he knows he shouldn’t.”

Mr Tame has used a prostitute and has not slept with his wife for four years. He is disabled and has manic episodes. [The Telegraph]

Okay, I’m not a doctor, but injury to the frontal lobe unleashes uncontrollable libido? Wow, considering the rough games most boys play, I wonder how many of them fell or otherwise bumped their heads during childhood causing damage to their frontal lobes. Gee, can this be an explanation as to why more males commit adultery than females?

It’s a dangerous precedent, really. Not only in the context of labor law but also — and perhaps more especially — in the context of family law. Imagine a male boss or a male co-employee being sued for sexual harassment. Then he claims he suffered bumps in the head as a child and he has this uncontrollable libido.

Then, imagine using the “frontal lobe phenomenon” as a defense by a husband who gets sued for adultery and/or divorce. This is like saying that there are instances when a man can’t help being horny.

Now, here’s the thing. I read a few sites about brain injury and, in particular, the effects of injury to the frontal lobe. I found nothing that mentions uncontrollable libido among the symptoms. You can read this , this and this. A page from the University of Florida College of Medicine says that although a person suffering from frontal lobe damage may exhibit inappropriate sexual advances, overall there is reduced libido.

Like I said, I’m not a doctor. We had a subject called Medical Jurisprudence in the College of Law but there was no mention of frontal lobe injury and its effect on libido. It’s just that… well, it just sounds like a too convenient explanation for misbehaving males.