Essay On Mental Illness In The 1950s

There was still a large lack of understanding that what caused mental illness the 1930’s, however people still wanted to treat mental illness so this brought more therapeutic ideas on how to cure it. In 1933, two neurologists at Yale Primate Laboratory, Dr. Fulton and Jacobson, performed experiments on two monkeys. They tested the intelligence of the monkeys before and after the removal of half the brains’ frontal lobes. They seemed to retain their skills and intelligence. Fulton and Jacobson wanted to take this a little further, they removed the other half of the frontal lobe. They discovered that the monkeys no longer became violent and frustrated when they didn't immediately get their treats after completing the intelligence test [9].

In early American history, individuals with mental illnesses have been neglected and suffered inhuman treatments. Some were beaten, lobotomized, sterilized, restrained, in addition to other kinds of abuse. Mental illness was thought to be the cause of supernatural dreadful curse from the Gods or a demonic possession. Trepanning (the opening of the skull) is the earliest known treatment for individuals with mental illness. This practice was believed to release evil spirits (Kemp, 2007). Laws were passed giving power to take custody over the mentally ill including selling their possessions and properties and be imprisoned (Kofman, 2012). The first psychiatric hospital in the U.S. was the Pennsylvania Hospital where mentally ill patients were left in cold basements because they were considered not affected by cold or hot environments and restraint with iron shackles. They were put on display like zoo animals to the public for sell by the doctors (Kofmen, 2012). These individuals were punished and isolated and kept far out of the eyes of society, hidden as if they did not exist. They were either maintained by living with their families and considered a source of embarrassment or institutionalized

Furthermore, tremendous advances have been made in the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses in the recent decades. Nowadays, someone with a mental illness is treated with respect, just like every other person, because, in fact, everyone is equal. Society’s goals today are to treat and support the mentally ill individuals enough so they can live in

brain, or sending patients to institutions, doctor prescribed pills to try and treat mental conditions. In addition mental health patients were no longer being institutionalized due to the poor conditions in mental institutions (History of Mental Illness”)

There are many people in the United States that have a mental illness that is either not

Mental health illnesses have been around since interrelated relationships have been present in society. The treatment of this illness has evolved immensely throughout history. Early on, those who were mentally ill were demonized and thought to be an all mighty evil, which had the ability to be passed on to others. Due to this ideology, many people shunned, and banished those who were thought to be mentally handicapped. In order to protect society from these “beasts” many people imprisoned mentally ill individuals and were stripped of the ability to live their lives. Fortunately, as society progressed and different ways of treating the mentally ill were established through scientific advancements. Along with these advances, treatment for

They say mental hospitals are for the insane not the sane, however who gets to decide who is insane and who is sane? One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, explores the idea of what it means to be sane or insane, and who gets to define what qualifies as sane versus insane. The story takes place during the 1950's in Oregon. Many of the patients on the ward are not necessarily insane however just do not fit in with society’s perception of “sane” and have admitted themselves into the mental health hospital as an escape from society. Society and the mental hospital in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are not too different, for example the committed patients represent those who society has found as a threat to society by not fitting into the norms.

Through the course of time, mental illnesses have always been in existence due to varying factors and causes. However, as time has passed, the perceptions and available treatments for mental illnesses have also changed as new technology was developed. By looking at the treatments and perceptions of mental illnesses in the early 20th century, we can learn how to properly treat and diagnose not only mental disorders but also other conditions as well as show us the importance of review boards and controlled clinical trials.

Sanity and insanity are two deeply intertwined concepts. Any observation made upon the nature of either conversely reshapes our understanding of the other. In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there is a power struggle in a psychiatric ward between two conflicting definitions of sanity and insanity and what behaviour can be categorized as such. Miss Ratched’s sanity is achieved through a rigid hierarchal network of rules that enforces uniformity and order while the patients’ revolutionary sanity achieved solely through rebelling from the rules that limit the individual’s freedom and sense of self. In detailing the tension between two opposite views on sanity, Kesey scrutinizes the way society forms its perceptions towards sanity and exposes the flaws in its narrow definition of sanity. The process of defining sanity is formed by rules that act as the model of sanity which is inherently unjust to non-conforming

Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest depicts a story of a sane man, Randle McMurphy, who decides to escape imprisonment by entering a psychiatric ward instead. The entire story is viewed in the eyes of a schizophrenic patient, Chief Bromden. This novel is set around the 1950’s in a mental asylum in Oregon. Besides the plot of the story, Kesey also manages to illustrate a realistic 1950’s mental hospital. The facilities, therapy and the release of patients in mental asylum in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey realistically depicts the conditions of mental hospitals during the 1950’s.

Mental illnesses were diagnosed much more frequently during the middle of the twentieth century than they are today. During the time period in which One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, took place, mental illnesses were taken much more seriously, and people admitted themselves to institutions if they felt incapable of functioning sufficiently in their everyday lives. Today, people in similar situations who have great difficulty living normal lives are told that there is nothing wrong with them. The population of mental institutions today is about one tenth of the population of mental institutions in 1955 (Kozlowska). McMurphy and modern day leftists do not

Denial of Mental Illness in the Early 20th Century Virginia Woolf’s own experience with mental illness is conveyed through the detachment from society in the characters of Septimus Warren Smith and Clarissa Dalloway in her novel Mrs Dalloway. Due to cultural norms and societal beliefs during the early 20th century, people who were suffering from a mental illness were seen as a “hysteric” and “out of sorts” and should be kept hidden society. Although Septimus and Clarissa are from totally different classes of society, they share the common feeling of isolation during a time where they weren’t understood. Despite the fact that these two characters never met, Woolf was trying to express that this inward struggle these characters were facing,

Mental Health has been recognized, as the well-being at which individuals are able to cope with everyday stresses, and work productively while contributing back to their community. Mental Health America began in the early 1900’s by Clifford W. Beers, a former psychiatric patient who experienced mental/physical abuse during his stay in public and private institutions. It wasn’t until short after a reform group emerged, to stand against the abuse and ill-treatment at these institutions. In this paper, I will be discussing the history/background of Mental Health Services, and how quality, access, cost or other factors have changed (or how they haven’t). I also will be discussing the populations that benefit from this type of service and the significant issues, and or problems within the area that impact specific populations. Lastly, I will interpret national policy, legislation, attitudes, political climate, and how they impact or relate to the problems discussed, then I will address two current issues discussed along with clarifying each discussion.

The Kesey novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, outlines how mental wards were run in the 1960s. Patients were not given the right to make choices and were often treated under strict rule. Staff acted as dictators in the lives of those who were committed or those who chose to commit themselves to mental health. Independence cannot be gained without individual rights. In the Kesey novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the antagonist Nurse Ratched strips her patients of their individual choice via “ward policy” and the ward schedule. The protagonist Randle McMurphy gives choice back by rebelling against Nurse Ratched and inspiring the patients.

The story of this drug begins in the streets of Paris (and Lyon) in the 1930s, where the pharma-company Laboratoires Rhône-Poulenc (today Sanofi) noticed that the drugs they were developing as antihistamines also demonstrated relaxant and sedative effects (Shen ,1999; Healy, 2004). Their observations and research eventually lead to the synthesis of chlorpromazine in 1950, the first drug with specific antipsychotic action (Yuhas, 2013).