Sociology

Sociology
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Sociology
Introduction
Approaches to mental healthcare have been changing over the years. Mental healthcare in the early 60s is radically different from the modern times. This is evident in the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest", an adaptation from Ken Kesey`s novel of the same title. The movie depicts the treatment of mental health patients in a mental health facility. The film also depicts the experiences that persons with mental illnesses under at the medical institution. The movie introduces a rather shocking aspect to the manner in which psychiatric patients were handled and treated in the early 60s.
The movie depicts a harsh environment in the asylum where patients are confined. The tyrannical administration in the hospital also alludes to the less than humane medication that mental health patients underwent in the early 60s. In the hospital, Big Nurse rules with a heavy hand, condemning any patient not towing the line to isolation. This is a form of punishment, not treatment. In contrast, the recent times have seen a restructuring of mental healthcare systems. What characterizes the restructuring process is the decentralization of mental healthcare, changing from a primary mental hospital into smaller home-based care centers (Morrow et al, 2010). This has effectively solved the problem of isolation that patients in the early 60s faced.
Similarities
Mental healthcare systems have undergone numerous transformations over time. Nevertheless, a few similarities still exist between the early 60s and the modern times. The movie opens with the admission of a new patient into the mental asylum. In this asylum, it is obvious that there are different types of treatment for different psychological problems. The most obvious treatments for psychiatric patients are electroshock therapy and lobotomy. Doctors in the early 60s used electroshock to induce seizures in persons suffering from mental illnesses for therapeutic effects (Achariah, 2004 and Shorter, 2007).
In modern times, electroshock treatment is still in use in various psychiatric hospitals. Medical practitioners administer electroshock to patients with clinical depression, but have not responded to any other form of treatment (Scott et al, 2005). Currently, electroshock therapy also finds use for patients with dementia and catatonia. However, doctors consider this type of treatment as the last resort due to its harmful side effect, memory loss in some patients.
Secondly, the practice of isolating patients with mental illnesses runs regular between the early 60s and the modern times. In the movie, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest", Chief Bromden has been a resident in this mental facility for a long time. In fact, he is the longest serving patient in the hospital. By keeping him in the hospital, the authorities manage to isolate him from the rest of the society until he is mental fit again. This practice is also common in the modern times. Currently, mentally disturbed patients, especially those given to violence and violent tendencies, have to be kept away from the general public. This is to prevent them from harming members of the public. In addition, there are those patients that require particular attention. Doctors have to separate them in a particular hospital where they can access them easily and give them medical care.
Generally, few similarities exist in the approaches to mental healthcare between the early 60s, as the movie shows, and the modern times. This is due to the various changes that have taken place since the beginning of the 21st century. On the other hand, there are several differences in the treatment of mental health pa...