Shutter Island: Severely Paranoid Schizophrenia

“Shutter Island” is a psychological movie released on 2010 based on Dennis Lehane's book published on 2003 under the same name as the movie. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Laeta Kalogridis. The main character of this film Edward “Teddy” Daniels is a patient from the psychiatric hospital for criminals with mental disorders called Ashecliffe Hospital. Daniels has been a patient of this mental center for two years being “the most dangerous patient” in the facilities of the place. Daniels is a patient diagnosed with “Severely Paranoid Schizophrenia” that is a psychotic disorder. A psychotic disorder can be define “by abnormalities in one or more of the following five domains: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking

Many of the modern treatments at this time involve the use of medication in order to decrease the symptoms on patients with schizophrenia for a long term. “ Antipsychotic medications are often an important part of treatment. Such medications usually need to be taken daily to be effective.” (APA, 2008). Some treatments also involves therapy and changes in patient’s life, “Psychotherapy may also be a valuable part of treatment.” (APA, 2008) In this process of recuperation patient’s family occupy an important role “Family interventions in which relatives participate in therapy sessions may be particularly helpful for people with schizophrenia.”(APA,2008) Some patients who have the support of their families through their recuperation process, can be able to recover faster, “A 2001 review of studies found that family interventions reduce rates of psychotic relapse or rehospitalization by 20 percent (Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2001)”

This movie has the time concept of 1954 were the developing of medical treatments was on process. Many of the medications were used with the purpose of keep patients in a state of calm. Daniels was a patient who the medicine was not enough for him at the point of keeping him in a lighthouse far away from the others patients for been highly aggressive with doctors, nurses and patients in the hospital. At this time Lobotomy procedure was really common on patients like Teddy. This procedure consiste on cut part of the patient’s brain who present a mental disorder. This procedure was created for reduce the symptoms of illness as schizophrenia, but the majority of the surgeries at that time ended in the death of the patient or in causing several damage to the patient’s brain. On the movie Dr. Cawley is trying to help Teddy with his therapy of creating a new world for him, with the idea of do not make Andrew to undergo on this dangerous