The movie One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Olivia Glaudel Abnormal Psychology 1/24/13 The movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a portrayal of a group of males that are living in a mental instruction under the authority of a woman named Nurse Ratched. A new man named Randle Patrick McMurphy comes to join their ward and brings a new sense of excitement to the men already living in this institution. Randle McMurphy is a case that makes the doctors, nurses and workers of the hospital wonder if he is truly insane or just trying to find a way out of jail. Randle McMurphy was often irrational, impulsive and moody. The people surrounding him show a variety of different mental illnesses.

One of the youngest boys in the ward, Billy, has a prominent stutter when he talks and it becomes even more noticeable when he becomes frustrated. Billy has also tried to commit suicide previous to living in the institution. Billy shows that this issue stemmed from a relationship with his mother, this is shown by Nurse Rached threatening to tell Billy’s mother of his sexual relations. Due to this threat Billy commits suicide. Another man that lives in the ward talks about the extreme jealously he has when it comes to his wife, and how he feels that other men are continually looking at her.

He shows extreme paranoia and follows the rules with extreme precaution. This man also finds shame in his wife and late in the movie states that he committed himself to the institution. Another man in the institution throws childish fits when he begins to feel frustrated, upset, or confused. This man’s fits are often uncontrollable and filled with rage. Many therapies were used throughout the movie including group therapies, electro convulsive therapy, medication and the procedure called a lobotomy.

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Group therapies were often common in the day-by-day routine of the men. In this group therapy many of the men expressed deep issues that they have within themselves. This type of therapy showed no major changes to the patient’s attitudes and actions throughout the duration of the movie. Among the other therapies that were portrayed in the movies was giving each patient a drugs at a specific hour each day. The nurses did not release the information to the patients about what kinds of drugs were given and if different drugs were given specifically to each patient.

This type of therapy also showed no difference in the behavior and attitudes of the patients that took it. Another therapy that was given when the patients caused trouble was electroconvulsive therapy. Randle McMurphy was given this therapy when he was found himself getting in trouble. This is not an accurate portrayal of how electroconvulsive therapy is used. Electroconvulsive therapy is not intended to be used as a punishment but instead as a treatment for very severe depression or severe illnesses that medication cannot cure.

Randle Murphy left the electroconvulsive therapy session with as much enthusiasm as he came into it with. The last procedure that is evident in the movie was the lobotomy that was performed on Richard Murphy at the end of the movie. It shows two large incisions at each end of the front of his skull, when taken back to the ward another man approaches McMurphy, and he is not responsive. This is a procedure that is often used for patients that are beyond the help of therapy and medication.

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