As you all may know, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest take place in an insane ward/asylum. This got my brain thinking; if this is what was depicted in the book, what was it actually like in an asylum in these times. So what did I do? I researched it on the Internet. I thought you guy would want to know what I found out. First off I would like to point out that I was shocked that all the methods stated in the book were actually used in the mid 20th century as treatments for the mentally ill:
Some therapies used:
EST (electroshock therapy)- is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Some effects of this treatment are, Memory loss, effects of the brain structure, effects on pregnancy etc. It is still used today but rarely.
Lobotomy – is a neurosurgical procedure, a form of psychosurgery. It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobe of the brain. Some side effects of this procedure are, convulsive seizures, distractibility, childishness, facetiousness, lack of discipline, and post-operative incontinence.
Its crazy to think the things that RPM went through in this novel were realities for some individuals in this time.
I was also shocked when reading about these disturbing ways of treating the sick in the asylums. It's as if the lives and well being of the people in the wards didn't matter! The treatment of the sick and the procedures they had to endure were barbaric! It was as though the health professionals just wanted an immediate result and didn't care about the later effects/consequences. I have to agree with you when you say that you are happy that these institutions are no longer around and that more suitable treatments are available.
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