Normal? I don't think so. Taunton State Hospital had many of the lobotomies living there under 24 hour watch. There was little in the way of drugs to control behavior. The wealthy took the same way out as the Kennedy's. Kennedy had the funds to keep Rosemary in a private place. Many just shuttled them into the state system. The cruelty of it all was very apparent back then and there was not one of us that could tell you it ever made a person function better.
Not one of them could function out in real life. They were far worse after the cruel and inhumane surgery.
Another side of the story.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5014080