The Mentally Ill - 1679 Words

Throughout history, human societies have had conflicting views on insanity and how it is defined in life. Primitive cultures found peace within shamans and witch doctors because they believed the insane were possessed by evil spirits. From then on, in Roman and Greek cultures, there was a somewhat progressive ideology that mental illness came from biological and emotional ailments. They believed in treating those with mental disorders humanely and respectfully which is an attitude that has been forgotten through history and sadly, still is today. However, the Middle Ages became the end of these progressive ideas and introduced insane asylums who â€Å"helped† the mentally ill. Up until the 20th century, insane asylums were used to restrict†¦show more content†¦Ken Kesey’s ideas sprung from his personal experience working in the psychiatric ward of a veteran’s hospital. Kesey came to believe that there was little true mental illness and that patients were declared insane because they acted in ways that society was unwilling to accept. Kasey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest works to understand the idea of insanity and sanity as well as who has the authority and the right to decide what characterizes them. When looking into the depths of this book, it becomes apparent that there is a concept of irony throughout the book. In a mental hospital, one may assume that the people deemed fit to run the institution or be a part of the working community there would at least, (if not able to personally help the patients) be able to provide care that is not damaging them further. Although this would seem to be the most appropriate and morally good atmosphere of any institution, one of the most prominent insinuations of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest happens to be the insanity of most aspects of the Psych Ward, especially Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched has no future or current plans of actually helping anyone there, but is somewhat lacking a conscious and can be seen as a depiction of narcissism. She has an agenda set out to control everyone in the institution, including the employees as she picks them based on who is the weakest and most