One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Psychology

Psychopathological Treatment in Movies
Introduction
The treatment of psychopathologies has spanned a wide spectrum of approaches ever since its inauguration as a field of study. From humanism to psychoanalysis, mental illnesses have been viewed from a plethora of perspectives and many have attempted to capture such treatment techniques through the medium of film. However, the degree to which these films accurately depict the treatments applicable to the time period in which the movies are set varies. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Girl, Interrupted (1999) are no exception to the aforementioned statement. Set in the early 1960’s and late 1960’s/early 1970’s respectively, these movies bear aspects of both resemblance and dissimilarity to the conditions and psychological and biological treatments commonly known to occur during their respective time periods.
Movie Summaries

Sharing the ward with people such as Billy Bibbit, Harding, and Chief, McMurphy soon finds himself atop the patient hierarchy due to the influence he has over the other men. McMurphy quickly finds out though that his influence does not extend over the ward’s head, Nurse Ratched, and therefore makes it his personal mission to push as many of her buttons as possible. However, Nurse Ratched maintains her authoritative demeanor and takes what were viewed as necessary measures, such as electro shock therapy, to deal with McMurphy’s behavior outbursts. McMurphy’s final outburst, which took shape as a party during which almost all the patients became intoxicated, leads Nurse Ratched to play her final and most deadly card of sending McMurphy to undergo a frontal lobotomy. Returning from the procedure bearing no resemblance of his former self, Chief puts McMurphy out of his misery by suffocating him with a