In the
medical context, known as
trephination.
The modern trepanation movement was started by Dr. Bart Huges, a Dutch savant, in 1962. It was his belief that in standing upright, evolved man suffered from blood loss to the brain due to gravity. He also realised that by cutting a hole in his skull he could simulate a return to soft-headed infancy and a brain unrestricted by the cerebral membrane of later development; what this had to do with restoring the volume of blood to the brain is hard to say.
1965. Ibiza: (we skip Dr. Huges' time in a Dutch mental hospital)
Dr. Huges meets his disciple-to-be, English acid-head Joey Mellen. Joey later goes on to write a book called Bore-Hole("'This is the story of how I came to drill a hole in my skull to get permanently high.") The book details Joey's two unsuccessful attempts to drill a hole through his skull with the help of friend Amanda Feilding and a hand-operated trepan. Third try was the charm, and he managed to open a small hole in the top of his skull. Later he used an electric drill to drill a hole in his forehead. Then he convinced Amanda to follow suit in 1970, making a film of the operation entitled Heartbeat in the Brain. She went on to stand for Parliament twice, her platform being that she would fight to get trepanation on the national health.
She now runs a charity called The Trepanation Trust, through whom interested parties can be put in contact with third-world surgeons willing to perform the operation.
It should also be noted that there are numerous cases in the psychiatric literature of schizophrenics drilling holes in their own heads in search of relief.
Let us also recall the 1981 David Cronenberg film Scanners in which we are told villian Daryl Revok drilled a hole in his head in an attempt to quiet the overheard thoughts of others.
More detailed info on trepanation, photos etc. can be found at www.trepanation.com.