One Flew Over the coo coo's nest
...ke negatively of each other and oneself. Though depression varies from one person to another these are the symptoms shown in the film and are correct. In the beginning of the movie suicide was mentioned and not further treated or acknowledged and eventually he committed suicide after a traumatic event. Today suicide is treated more seriously than in the movie. The main character McMurphy was never even diagnosed. There was only one consultation with him and a clinician. The clinician had only asked him one question about why he was there and no follow-up was done. There was never any formal test preformed to measure any damage to the brain that could be linked to his psychological problems. Clinicians often discussed what they should do with him but still never came to an agreement about what was the reason for his problems. The film dealt with the treatment of these patients manly with medications, and group therapy, and occasionally shock therapy. The medications were distributed to the patients daily, even to McMurphy though he was not diagnosed to having a mental illness yet, and also given if patients were acting out. Group therapy was also a part of the hospital course of treatment. Studies show that therapy is often more helpful than no therapy at all (page 90) but in this film did not seem effective at all. Patients were not grouped according to their illnesses but all together and were asked to comment on each other’s problems. Group therapy would be more beneficial and less confrontational if patients were grouped together according to their illnesses so they could relate and understand each other better. Also the nurses who were conducting the sessions brought up non relating issues which should be brought up individually and separate from the group. When the nurses did that often embarrassment and defensive attitudes came about by the patients making the sessions useless. Shock therapy was also used to “calm” the patients done if needed. Today there are many other forms of treatment because of all the emerging theories and perspectives these treatments may not have been used if the film was made today. If I were to consult on a remake of the film I would adopt more current trends of diagnosis and treatment. In the 1970’s the most effective form of treatment was a new development of drugs called psychotropic medication which reduced symptoms of mental illnesses. Medication was the main form of treatment but today many theoretical perspectives have emerged which have helped with better treatments. We now can look at behavioral, cognitive, humanistic-existenial, sociocultural approaches to find the best way to treat someone (page 15-17). With the new knowledge we have today, alon...