The Cuckoo’s Nest

Posted by Amber Soltow
December 13, 2007

Imagine a person sitting in a vinyl chair in a white-walled common room, surrounded by numerous individuals that are sitting enjoying television shows, playing chess, coloring, and ultimately entertaining themselves in whatever way that they can. A nurse, dressed in white scrubs, is seen passing out medications, brandishing a sinister expression and an unamused feeling emanating from her. Could you see yourself in this person’s place in a mental institution? Looking at this scene from Girl Interrupted, are mental institutions performing their jobs as a place for the mentally ill to heal and overcome their disease, or are they just a jail to keep the “weirdos” away from the society that we live in? Are the methods used in these hospitals achieving their goals, or would the patients be better off as part of the community? This paper will discuss and bring out points to provide answers to these questions.

Institutionalization is a method used by mental health professionals to cure the numerous mental illnesses afflicting individuals, but are they actually accomplishing their goals? It is assumed by much of society that psychiatric hospitals should nurture patients back to a state of “normal” mental health. Within mental hospitals there are different types of therapies and medications that are used when treating patients. However, these actions could be considered a “cover up” by some people if the real reason that these types of institutions were founded was to “warehouse” these individuals. The history of psychiatric hospitals is linked heavily with social and scientific attitudes toward mentally ill people, which have changed greatly over the past centuries. Generally speaking, in rural areas the mentally ill had been able to rely on local support of the people around them, or managed to simply go unnoticed amongst the rest of the population. However, under the demands of larger cities they faced a higher degree of difficulty and had a much greater chance of causing disruption or simply being a nuisance. As one writer put it, “Concern about the alleged dangerousness of an individual is raised in a variety of contexts…” (Shah) and it is believed that they should all be taken out of society and placed into institutions. When viewed in this way, mental institutions take on the profile of a jail for the mentally and emotionally disturbed, a harbor for those individuals who may differ a little from ourselves, yet are fundamentally the same as us.

In viewing mental health patients, in real life or in film, each case is different. Whereas one person might be physically or emotionally threatening to others or themselves, another might not. In the movie Girl Interrupted, for example, the main character was forced to stay in the institution because she swallowed a bottle of aspirin and drank a bottle of wine with it. The doctors in the hospital were not accomplishing anything with their treatments, and were forcing medications upon her that really were not helping her. During the movie it becomes obvious that the friendships and unity formed between the girls of the institution helped the overcoming of the problems that faces them and their possibilities for de-institutionalization more than help from doctors and nurses. The feeling of belonging and outspokenness concerning the girls’ problems that occurred in such things as group meetings, led to deeper thought about and assistance in the overcoming of each individuals’ problems. In the film’s conclusion we see that the friends that individuals make during their stay at an institution become lifelong friends, or at least, and if not that than people who will never be forgotten because of the impact that they have had on each others’ lives. The Susanna Kaysen character in the film wrote in a journal about her stay in the mental institution, and in this journal she wrote as well about the girls that were stuck in the hospital with her. Susanna Kaysen in reality published the memoir Girl Interrupted, which was made into the dramaic film that was released for the world to see.

The film suggests that the mentally ill would be just as well off within society, if not better, and authorities support this conclusion. “The vast majority of people remain supportive of the integration of those with mental illness into the community” (Public Attitudes). Being allowed to stay at home or in group living situations and be supported by their families or living groups would be far more beneficial than the separation in most cases (Public Attitudes). Participating in society, forming relationships with others, and doing things that make themselves feel useful and needed could make the disquieting thoughts running through their brains seem not so terrible, as when being shunned by society. This may not be true in all cases; there are times when the patients are so pessimistic or so out of touch with reality that there is little hope for them to function successfully out in the free world. In this case, the best place for the person may be in a mental institution.

Another problem with institutionalization is that the stigmas placed on the mentally ill, especially those institutionalized, are debilitating and degrading. “Stigma deprives people of their dignity and interferes with their full participation in society” (Granerud). Fear of being looked down upon or being seen as different causes people to shy away from obtaining help, and causes them to hate themselves more. But society is slowly accepting the mentally ill as members of the same community. “Public attitudes towards people with mental health problems remain broadly sympathetic despite some signs that prejudice and fear have slightly increased” (Public Attitudes). Public understanding of mental illnesses was aided by the media through productions of films based upon psychiatric issues, and through articles written about different mental problems. Fears of the mentally ill have been reduced thanks to development of various medicines that are used to control and manage those patients that are prescribed these medications. The American public has benefited from public educational programs, and these programs have brought out that there are a large number of people that have had some sort of personal experience with mental illnesses. Knowledge is the key to understanding and acceptance.

“Between 1946 and 1963, federal officials sought to change the national practice of providing mental health care, away from state run mental institutions and toward outpatient care based in local communities” (Weiss). The policies were based off of two policy instruments, ideas and inducements. The research that led to these changes provided evidence that mental institutions were not providing the amount of help that they were believed to bring. “The evaluation of a treatment model that makes use of the community to help mentally ill patients acquire necessary coping skills…is based on high readmission rates to mental hospitals” (Stein). “Mental health advocates and family members have joined together to reduce blame and stigma, share experiences and advice, gain mutual support, and fight for improvements in benefits for the long term disabled” (Goldman). This being said, mental institutions are moving more and more in the direction of being a scene of the past. Keep the mentally troubled where it they can be best cared for and most improved.

Works Cited

Fall 2007

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