Unveiling Stigma in Shutter Island: A Psychosocial Perspective

After watched the Shutter Island, I believe this film is combat against stigma of mental ill.
This film talked about Teddy and his partner came to Ashecliffe Hospital on a island and try to investigate the case of a missing patient, through out the process Teddy remembered about his past and the truth of her wife killed his three children and he killed his wife after. Finally it found out that all of this was a treatment process of Laeddis. At last Laeddis finally was lobotomized.
In the film Laeddis killed his wife and refuse to commit the crime because he can’t accept the truth, he created another person called Teddy trying to escape form the reality. The doctors are trying to remind him about his past through out a role play process,

lead him to realize about his guilt. His doctor pretended as Laeddis’s partner, followed Laeddis when he investigating the missing patient Rachel Solando. In the process of research Teddy asked the patient in the hospital did they know a patient called Laeddis, this shown throughout the process he has the sense that there is a person called Laeddis, he trying to find himself in the process.

He saw his wife many times, at last he remembered what has happened in the past, he knew that his wife drowned their children and he killed her. In the investigation after talked with his friend in the zone C, he knew that the patients are taken to a place the do the surgery to cut a part of their brain. He thought about the lighthouse near the sea shore of the island. He suggested to the partner they should go to the lighthouse. On the coast of the island his partner suddenly disappeared, he felt worry about him, he suddenly saw his partner’s body under the cliff, but when he climb down he find out there is no one there. While he climbing up he found out a cave and there is a woman there who claimed to be Rachel, according to the conversation of Teddy and Rachel in the cave, once the doctor decide that you have mental disease, any thing you do will be the prove of that. You can’t defend for yourself. He also knew that the doctor here are trying to do experiment with

the patient to trying control their brain, he knew about this things he decided to get out of this island and expose this to the world. When he finally arrived at the light house he found out that his partner is actually his doctor, the Rachel in the hospital is actually the assistant. Obviously he is pretty shocked by the truth, he said he was really trust his doctor, believed he is his partner, he worry about him, but this all indicated that he was tricked. He feel very disappointed. When he finally wake up, he remembered his past, and proved to be cured, he commit his crime, but the second day he still called his doctor Chuck, but he said a sentence to his doctor before he did the surgery “Which would be worse live as a monster or die as a good man?” this indicated that he is actually good but he can’t accept the cruel fact.
The story of Laeddis led me to think about if it is good for the person to cure him.

Sometimes the person chose to become who he is is decided by his experience, like Laeddis he chose to forget his past because he want to forget about the pain of losing kids and wife, the doctors only consider about make him normal, didn’t think about if it is good for him. They are not humanization, they are not focus on the person as a whole, they only think him as an abnormal person and try to fix it. In this film it also said mental health problem is a mark on people, if you once diagnose as unhealthy people, it is really hard for you to take the mark off, it will always follow you. People are hard to accept things that are unusual, long times ago people still consider homosexual as a mental problem, but as time goes by people start to accept it and many people even stand for the right of homosexual groups. As long as they didn’t do harm to people, they should be treated as normal people, they have reason to become who they are, all we need to do is try to stay with them, let them feel they are welcomed, rather than send them to facilities and try to keep them away from people. Many mental health are developed because those people can’t feel they are belonging to the society, they think no body need them. So they become lack of socialization and gradually develop the problem. just like we talked in class, family members should involve, the person should accept social skill training,

the people should keep in the community, people in the society should have positive attitude towards them. So that they can feel comfortable living.
In conclusion, this film is trying to promote a positive view towards people with mental health problem, the more we regard them as uncommon the worse they are feeling. The main goal of a mental health worker is not cure them but listen to the patient, consider about their feelings, treat them as normal people.