LisaLahey asked: Have you ever seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest starring Jack Nicholson? The flick was the first film since It Happened One Night, released in 1934, to win all five Academy nominations for Best Picture, Actor in a Lead Role, Actress in a Lead Role, Director and Screenplay and with damned good reason. If you have seen the movie you cannot help but acknowledge Nicholson’s amazing portrayal of what was metaphorically the only sane person in the entire hospital. In fact all of the characters in the movie were nothing more than stereotypes, intended to dramatize our perceptions, erroneous or otherwise, of patients residing inside of a mental institution.
Consider Nurse Rachet, a “calm but unyielding tyrant” who exerted an extreme, icy control over all of the supposedly voluntary patients on her floor. She wasn’t simply a nurse. She represented the clinical, unsupportive mental institution portrayed in the movie that was utterly insensitive to its patients’ needs. The use of electroconvulsive shock therapy is horribly exploited in the movie as Nicholson is strapped down and zapped with high voltage without the benefit of a general anesthetic.
Having briefly resided inside of two mental insitutions I can confidently claim that this portrayal of modern “sanitoriums” is utter nonsense. I liked the movie but I laugh at the concepts behind it. True, there was a time when mental institutions were little more than prisons and most likely atrocious abuse was heaped upon helpless patients who were involuntarily incarcerated. Yet, those days are long over. My treatment was given with the utmost confidentiality and respect by my clinicians and psychiatrists alike. Generally speaking I met and even befriended some pretty wonderful patients who looked, acted and spoke just like everyone else in our society at large, if you will. In fact, it is my firm belief that since we were all there working on our various mental and emotional issues we were probably healthier than your average person on the street living in denial about the many issues plaguing his or her life.
I did see rather disturbing behaviours from time to time however, yet these were mercifully rare. Upon my admission into the Clark Institute in Toronto for instance, an East Indian woman who was clearly mentally ill became so enraged that she was not allowed to go outside for a cigarette, she somehow cut her own arm and rubbed blood up against the nurse’s station. She then had to be restrained on a stretcher and brought to the electroshock therapy floor in order to receive treatment. Did she want the treatment? Not likely. Yet she was also not in a state of mind to make an informed decision and I must say the change in that woman was remarkable. The next time I saw her she stood calmly by the doors to the building, patiently waiting for the arrival of a visitor. She looked menacing and utterly noncommunicative but she was fully in control of herself now and that was wonderful to behold.
On another occasion a woman was admitted into the ward who screamed and struggled relentlessly and also had to be restrained in a room with a full window attached to the door so that nurses could view patients’ behaviour upon initial admission. She was so distraught and unaware of her surroundings that our particular floor could not help her. She was removed and brought to a floor for psychotic patients.
At the Homewood Institute in Guelph, Ontario I enjoyed a luxurious experience. Homewood is comprised of 5 estates on a luxurious acreage. There are tennis courts and exquistely manicured lawns. Group therapy is wonderfully effective and highly supportive. Friendships are easily made and generally I didn’t witness too many disturbing behaviours. I only heard of one: a young man with extreme anger issues became excessively violent and he had to be subdued, brought to the trauma unit then eventually discharged from the hospital as Homewood does not have the facilities to treat such a disorder. After his unfortunate experience, the nurses on our floor called an impromptu meeting for all of the patients to ask questions about the episode and put our fears to rest. I thought it was a very professional and effective way to handle the situation.
There were drawbacks to Homewood however. Many unhealthy relationships were formed among patients. One of the strictest rules was that no romantic or sexual liaisons were permitted to develop during patients’ residence in the clinic yet this situation happened on a frequent basis. If such relationships came to the attention of the nurses, the couple involved was given only one warning to discontinue the relationship. In the event that the couple refused, they were immediately discharged. That made sense to me. We weren’t there to form sexual alliances and I didn’t feel it was a good idea to become involved with people who were clearly in a dark place in their lives. Friendships, certainly but romances to me seemed foolish. Yet they did happen and sometimes to an extent that shocked me.
One young woman actively pursued a married man in this institution. He had been married for at least 16 years and he often spoke fondly of his wife. However this girl made several advances to him and she had the advantage over his wife of being in extremely close proximity to this man, unlike his spouse. Ultimately, he left his wife and moved in with the woman he met in the mental clinic and her two young daughters. At the same time, this girl reported another couple for becoming romantically attached and she was directly responsible for these people being discharged from the hospital!
Yet most of the experiences I witnessed were quite positive and many of the people there were kind and friendly. We were supportive of one another. We had a few laughs, comforted each other during difficult times and provided each other with company. Some people even developed permanent friendships outside of the facility and stayed in touch via email.
By all means go ahead and rent One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest if you haven’t seen it. It is a wonderfully theatrical and fictional portrayal of life inside of a mental institution. Just recognize it for what it is, pure entertainment and nothing more.
12 Volt Sump Pump
