One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

As medical advances are being made, it makes the treating of diseases easier and easier. Mental hospitals have changed the way the treat a patient’s illness considerably compared to the hospital described in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

“ Please understand: We do not impose certain rules and restrictions on you with out a great deal of thought about their therapeutic value. A good many of you are in here because you could not adjust to the rules of society in the Outside World, because you refused to face up to them, because you tried to circumvent them and avoid them. At some time – perhaps in your childhood – you may have been allowed to get away with flouting the rules of society. When you broke a rule you knew it. You wanted to be dealt with, needed it, but the punishment did not come. That foolish lenience on the part of your parents may have been the germ that grew in to your present illness. I tell you this hoping you will understand that it is entirely for your own good that we enforce discipline and order.” (Kesey 188).

This comment made by the “ Big Nurse” in the story implies that she is telling the patients that the reason they have this disease is that they want to receive punishment when they did wrong or to attract attention to themselves. In no way is this the case with schizophrenia. The patients did not develop this illness because of lack of discipline from their parents or because the wanted attention. This dreaded disease is one that is unexplained and a cure is has yet to be found, although there are ways to treat the illness at the present time.

Every year one hundred thousand young Americans are diagnosed with the disease schizophrenia (Carman Research). Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that is associated with unnatural behavior or thinking . The disease usually affects people during the late adolescence stage or early adulthood, typically during this time they develop the symptoms linked to the disease.

The most typical symptoms of schizophrenia are things such as, hearing things that others cannot, such as voice of people whispering, having a feeling that someone is going out of their way to make sure they harm you, having visions of things that people around you cannot see, receiving special messages from the television, radio, and other appliances, felling that you posses special powers that ca...

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...ending on the size and tolerances of the patients, the voltages could have ranged anywhere form 70 to 130 volts. As a direct effect from the large amounts of electricity being imposed into the patient’s body they will lose consciousness almost immediately. The shocks sent them in to convulsions or seizures and therefore increased their insulin levels. After a patient regains consciousness, he or she will not remember any of the events of being shocked. (Noyes and Kolb).

As the treat for this disease improves the people effected by it will have a better chance to live a normal life with out the fear of being seen as a out cast.

Works Cited

Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The Viking Press. New York. 1973. Page 188.

Noyes, Arthur P. M.D. and Kolb, Lawrence C. M.D. Shock and Other Physical Therapies. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Text and Criticism: The Viking Press. New York. 1973. Page 499.

Long, Phillip W. M.D. “Schizophrenia: Youth’s Greatest Disabler.” British Columbia Schizophrenic Society. 8th edition. April 12, 2000. www.Mentalhealth.com.

“Schizophrenia.” Carman Research. September 17, 2000.

http://www.carmanresearch.com/schizophrenia.html.