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Shock Therapy In The Film One Flew Over The Cuckoo's N

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According to the ADAA, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, in 2015, 16.1 million adults in the United States have experienced depression at one point of their life. A well-known electrical procedure called Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy (ECT) was used back in the 1930’s and 1940’s and still currently used today to treat depression and other mental illnesses to trigger a brief seizure. It was to believe to result to reversing symptoms of certain mental illnesses and can be an option for mentally ill patients when medications are not effective. However, ECT was often represented as an abusive form of control towards mentally ill patients in movies and TV shows when their behavior is unmanageable. In the film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched uses ECT to …show more content…

After some time, McMurphy realizes how Nurse Ratched is in control of the patients and if any patients get out of hand or questions something, Nurse Ratched immediately shut the patients down. In one scene, Nurse Ratched sends McMurphy and two other patients to be given the ECT treatment when McMurphy and some other patients sneaked out for a fishing trip. McMurphy is trying to get the patients who voluntary are in the institution to experience how wonderful life is and not to fear the “real world.” The institution has kept McMurphy in the mental institution to keep a close eye on what mental conditions he may have for being sent there. Therefore, McMurphy has not been officially diagnosed as mentally unstable and yet he was given the ECT treatment. As a result, Nurse Ratched had to resort to ECT to gain back control over her patients by using ECT as punishment for the patients’

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McMurphy does the exact opposite and acts out inspite of someone else controlling him. He does this in order to prove to all the other patients that he is going to be in charge and take over Harding’s place. Also, McMurphy tries to

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In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the Electro Shock Therapy machine is an allusion that relates to crucifixion.

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This is shown when Nurse Ratched says, "You've—it seems—no other psychiatric history, Mr. McMurry?" which McMurphy replies with, "McMurphy, Doc." And which Nurse Ratched says, "Oh? But I thought—the nurse was saying—"(Kesey 38). Nurse Ratched purposely mispronounces his name. She is trying to get under his skin and break him.

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Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the narrator, Chief Bromden, has a slight mystery surrounding him, like several of the other characters. That is, what mental illness is Chief in the ward for exactly? The answer might seem like the obvious post traumatic stress disorder, but is it really? While he does have the necessary traumatic experience for PTSD to occur, he doesn’t necessarily show all the symptoms. In fact, he shows just as many symptoms for depersonalization/derealization disorder and schizophrenia as he does PTSD.

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In the drama film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, Patrick McMurphy was moved from a prison farm to a mental institution to get evaluated for his erratic behavior. Upon being transported to the institution, all his assumptions about his new home were completely wrong. The head nurse, Nurse Ratched, has the whole hospital under her control with little to no freedom for the patients. All the inmates at the institution go through rigorous training to become obedient to Nurse Ratched and her strict schedule and rules. The institution was a very controlled environment with the patients having no control over their own life’s while there.

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At times, the characters deemed “insane” in the novel appear saner than the “sane” characters who govern the ward. Kesey achieves this effect through the characterization of Randle McMurphy, a loud, clever, and untraditional ward patient. He stirs up the ward as he rebels against the trivial rules enforced by Nurse Ratched (the head of the ward). Similar to McMurphy’s presence in the mental ward, Tesla Motors has stirred up

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The patients dont question his violence with Nurse Ratched because no one has ever standed up to her. Nurse ratched is the reason they dont have confidence in themselves. As McMurphy stays longer, the other patients become more aware as to what is happening. Before McMurphy came in the ward the men believed everything that was done to them was for their own good Nurse Ratched was able to manipulate the men and had full power to boss them around. After McMurphy came he was able to show them that Nurse Ratched uses their weakness against them and was just a manipulator.

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In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the nurse exposes the patients to harsh procedures in hopes to either cure them of their illness or stop unwanted behavior. Harding explains one of the treatments the patients endure: “Electro-Shock Therapy. Those fortunate souls in there are being given a free trip to the moon. No, on second thought, it isn’t completely free. You pay for the service with brain cells instead of money.”

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In the book “One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest” Ken Kesey shows that the “insanity” of the patients is really just normal insecurities and their label as insane by society is immoral. This appears in the book concerning Billy Bibbits problem with his mom, Harding's problems with his wife, and that the patients are in the ward

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Published in 1962, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest tells the story of Patrick McMurphy, a newly-admitted patient at a psychiatric hospital where individuals with various mental conditions are treated. Run primarily by Nurse Ratched, a demeaning autocrat who exhibits complete control over others, the patients are subjected to various forms of treatments and therapy with the intent of rehabilitation (Kesey 5). Most forms of treatment depicted in Kesey’s novel, such as group therapy, are an accurate representation of what typical psychiatric patients may encounter while under care at a mental facility. Yet others, particularly electroshock therapy and lobotomies, were quite controversial at the time of the novel’s publication. Such treatments were questioned for their effectiveness at improving patients’ condition – and while these procedures were still occasionally performed at the time, they often did not benefit the treated individual.

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His rebellious and free mind makes the patients open their eyes and see how the have been suppressed. His appearance is a breath of fresh air and a look into the outside world for the patients. This clearly weakens Nurse Ratched’s powers, and she sees him as a large threat. One way or another, McMurphy tends to instigate changes of scenery. He manages to move everyone away from her music and watchful eye into the old tube room.

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Another point to note was that McMurphy seems abnormal among the patients. Especially with his laugh, I kept thinking that he might be mentally ill and not fake it (Kesey). But if you just imagine his behavior outside of the asylum, then it seems normal. This phenomenon is well known in psychology. It says that person once convicted of mental illness have an uphill battle to prove that he is not.

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In the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a group of men living in a psychiatric ward are dealing with different types of disorders. The character that I chose to observe and analyze was Billy Bibbit. Billy is a young man who struggles to speak without stuttering and make his own decisions. He seeks approval from those around him and is always worried he will disappoint those around him. Although some people at this psychiatric ward are committed, Billy is a voluntary patient.

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Ken Kesey uses his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to describe the lives of patients in a mental institution, and their struggle to overcome the oppressive authority under which they are living. Told from the point of view of a supposedly mute schizophrenic, the novel also shines a light on the many disorders present in the patients, as well as how their illnesses affect their lives during a time when little known about these disorders, and when patients living with these illnesses were seen as an extreme threat. Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel, has many mental illnesses, but he learns to accept himself and embrace his differences. Through the heroism introduced through Randle McMurphy, Chief becomes confident in himself, and is ultimately able to escape from the toxic environment Nurse Ratched has created on the ward. Chief has many disorders including schizophrenia, paranoia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, and, in addition to these illnesses, he pretends to be deaf and dumb.

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