How Does Dysart Conflicted Normality

The book “Saving Normal,” which is an insider’s Revolt Against Out-of-control Psychiatric Diagnosis, written by Allen Frances. This book title represents what it is about, saving normal humans from the people with mental illnesses and disorders. The main theme of this book is that for years’ people are being diagnosed to easily, and quickly and treated with meditation that isn’t needed that often. Allen Frances was the head of the task force of the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders. He has been in the inside and seen psychiatrics classify various mental disorders to humans. These psychiatrists have prescribed medications and drugs to people who do not need it. At the beginning of

Thomas Szasz was one of the first psychiatrist to criticise psychiatry and argue about the concept of mental illness. His book “The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct” highlights the fundamental flaws in the administration of psychiatry, with the aim of challenging the medical characteristics of the concept of mental illness and the wrongful treatment of patients without their consent.

The short documentary Crooked Beauty, directed by Ken Paul Rosenthal, narrates Jacks Ashley McNamara’s experience in a psychiatric ward and how her time in the facility shapes her new appreciation for her mental illness. One controversial issue has been trying to identify the true cause of mental illness. On the one hand, most people may think mental illness is simply a biological disorder that can be cured with a combination of medication and doctors demanding appropriate behavior until it sticks in the patient’s mind. On the other, McNamara contends that mental illness is a misconception with a patient’s oversensitivity, where it is harder for the patient to ignore certain events than “normal” people, and their doctor’s textbook knowledge. In McNamara’s mental institution, the psychiatrists simply trap her in a padded room and prescribe many different pills to suppress her mental illness instead of embracing her differences or showing her how to use those differences to her advantage. In attempt to prevent those who are mentally ill from feeling the same anger and frustration she felt, she demands a change in the line psychiatric treatment when she says:

During the 1960’s, many young people believed in uncensored expression and that society had a very provincial image of how a person should behave. The image instilled upon the Counterculture had a defined sense of implicit standards of normality and society believed everyone should act, look, and behave in a specified way. People were expected to obey authority and to never question that power; however, the Counterculture was the antithesis of these standards. The Counterculture strived to break boundaries within conventionalism by challenging and rebelling against the limits of society’s unwritten rules. The Counterculture dared to oppose conformity and consequently, many were perceived as insane and placed into mental institutions such as the one in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Robert Faggen, in the introduction of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, analyzes that during the 1960s, “... mental illness as instruments of social purification masquerad[ed] as science with little diagnostic or therapeutic value. Therapy meant learning to internalize the moral codes of a particular society, not treatment as an illness” (x). Randle P. McMurphy, the protagonist of the novel, is sent into the mental institution and he continually attempts to overcome the oppressive domination of the nurses who run the ward. McMurphy instills confidence in the patients and helps them to validate their self-worth and their individuality while the nurses attempt to conform them. Through

The doctor’s anecdote of his wife taking phosphates, tonics, journeys and air along with exercise was above reproach. If women had more of a voice, would approaches to treatment for mental illness have been more effective? Feeling powerless, the wife was relieved of her duties and cared for by her husband, the housekeeping was done by Jennie, her sister-in-law, and Mary cared for the baby.

Schizophrenia is responsible for life-long mental illness that presents an abnormal reality to those diagnosed with it. It can cause hallucinations, delusion, decreased motivation and judgement, erratic behavior, substance abuse, among other symptoms. Schizophrenia and mental illness, in general, can be a tricky subject in terms of an accurate portrayal. However, even inaccurate portrayals can help readers understand its implications. The way that authors write schizophrenic characters and their relationships in their works can leave an enduring impact. Considering only the following story of a likely schizophrenic protagonist, readers are presented a sensible mentally ill character who may not have a happy ending but does leave a lasting impression in those readers who become familiar with him. In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne touches on the reality of those inflicted with such mental illnesses as schizophrenia and does not shy away from showing the dark implications it may have on their life.

Members of society feel at peace knowing that their mentally disturbed are receiving ‘proper’ treatment, but when treatment entails electroshock therapy and lobotomies, how does one protest when they are unaware of this malpractice? In the 1960s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the lives of psychiatric ward members are changed forever when introduced to Randall McMurphy. While he claims to be insane, what separates him from the others are the means of comitance; Randall pleaded insanity to avoid a difficult jail sentence while the others more or less committed themselves. His confidence is a never before seen attribute in the ward that inspires the other patients to break out of their comfort zone to not only speak up for themselves against the overbearing head Nurse, but to embrace their masculinity and take power of their own lives. In Ken Kesey’s fiction novel, patients in a psychiatric ward are under the cruel regiment of Nurse Ratched when the introduction of new patient Randall McMurphy challenges her control to revealing themes of conformity, technological influence, and confidence.

In the beginning of each protagonist’s journey and conflict exhibits, the ineffectiveness of mental institutions as the authors describes the protagonists’ situation. N’s initial situation exposes the unproductivity and dehumanisation towards the psychiatric patients:

“In a world where we are forced to conform to society, it is necessary to have personal chaos”, said Alan Armstrong. The movie Edward Scissorhands spotlights society’s structured rules and one man who refuses to be like the rest. Edward and I are comparable in the sense that we’ve both suffered conformity, been swallowed for our diversity and shocked by the intensity of love.

Lauren Slater’s, On Being Sane in Insane Places, takes the reader on a journey showing how psychiatry has changed since the 1970’s. David Rosenhan’s experiment of whether psychiatrists could accurately diagnose mental stability was the catalyst for her own experiment. Her quest to see if Rosenhan’s experiment can be duplicated, clearly shows her mental stability is questionable. I believe the psychiatrists in her experiment may have accurately diagnosed her.

The effect of mental illness can influence a family for generations, whether individuals are hindered by mental illness personally, or live with mental illness in their household. In Lee Smith’s memoir Dimestore: A Writer’s Life the impact of mental illness is seen throughout her mother’s family to her mother, in her father, and also in her son. Each family member is described in a different tone, and the influence of each family member is seen her recount of their life and struggle with mental illness. In Lee Smith’s memoir, Dimestore, the role of gender plays a large part in her reception and reaction to the mental illness and hospitalizations of her family members. Gender plays a large role on the effect the mental illness has on Smith,

Next, Through Christopher's understanding of relationships, Haddon unveils the reality of the idealistic thoughts of normality in society. Society thinks a relationship is to mutually love and respect and trust one another. It’s considered “normal” to show affection if you care for someone. Christopher has an inability to express his feelings of love. "And Father said, 'Christopher do you understand that I love you?' And I said 'Yes', because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling the truth,” (87) Despite the normality society has put on relationships, every person has their own opinion on how a relationship works. The normality of relationships is only an ideal standard. Contrary to what most believe as a typical relationship, some don’t express their thoughts and feelings in the same way. Haddon shows his readers that just because there are standards to what a relationship should be like, doesn’t mean everyone has to abide by those standards. The love Christopher's parents have for him is one- sided, they can’t expect him to feel the same way. (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time). Normality is a standard and the standard society has on relationships are unattainable considering all people are different.

Mental illness is a prominent irregularity among the population. in many pieces of literature, authors often incorporate mental disorder to further humanize their characters. Ned Vizzini practiced this in his novel, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, as he described his teenage protagonist, Craig, throughout his suicidal episode. Shakespeare also portrays an example in his play “hamlet”, as Hamlet suffers with depression after the lose of his father.

During the 1930s and ’40s, psychoanalytically oriented clinicians in the US and Europe were making observations of the ill-effects on personality development of prolonged institutional care and frequent changes of mother-figure during the first years of life. Among them was a psychiatrist who, prior to receiving his medical training, had studied developmental psychology. His name was John Bowlby. At this time mainstream psychoanalytic

If we reach that far back in psychiatric history it would appear as though mainstream psychiatry has actually come a long way. To gain insight in to all disciplines of study it’s critical to venture back in time to get a glimpse of its history. It’s necessary to study the roots in an effort to accurately extrapolate where things have been, where things are, and where the vision is directed for the future. Advancements in health care have unfolded through trial and error. These progressive improvements in patient care are profoundly swayed by public attitudes and medical theories. Since we have had such difficulty in finding our way out of the stigma mental illness maintains on today’s society, it is not surprising that psychiatry continues to lag behind other fields of medicine in terms of advancements.