A man suffering from severe obsessive-compulsive behavior apparently found a cure by shooting a .22-caliber bullet through his brain while attempting suicide, it was reported Monday.

The bullet evidently destroyed the part of the brain that was causing the abnormal behavior in the 19-year-old man without damaging his intellectual capacity, according to a report in Physician's Weekly. The publication referred to the suicide attempt as "successful radical surgery."

The man recovered from the attempt, finished his high school education that had been interrupted by his illness, and is now in college, said psychiatrist Leslie Solyom of Shaughnessy Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Experts said surgery on the frontal lobe is occasionally tried as a last resort in treating intractable obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Victims of the disorder typically have an unexplainable compulsion to repeat activities over and over. Solyom's patient, whom he identified only as George, had an obsessive fear of germs and would wash his hands hundreds of times a day and take frequent showers.

"George was also very depressed, and told his mother that his life was so wretched that he would rather die," Solyom said.

"Parents of obsessive-compulsives, particularly mothers, often have cruel streaks," he said. "She said, 'So look George, if your life is so wretched, just go and shoot yourself.' So George went to the basement, stuck a .22 rifle in his mouth, and pulled the trigger."

"When he was transferred to our hospital three weeks later, he had hardly any compulsions left," Solyom said. "What made the case so very interesting was that we had measured IQ and done a lot of other tests before the suicide attempt. . . . We compared results and he had not lost anything."