PSYCH WARD 101
Hollywood loves a good story about the psych ward. The problem is they never tell the story right.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the most well-known Hollywood movie of all time about mental illness and life in a psychiatric ward. It is a cult-classic. And as far as pop culture interpretations of psychiatric hospitals go — prison-like institutions which steal your mind and your soul — I would argue that One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest gives us the most famous interpretation on record. Have you seen it? I urge you to watch it for it’s accuracy. Okay okay I kid, but I will give it this — it is very entertaining and I’ve seen it more than once. I first watched it as a kid because it was the Saturday afternoon movie and the title piqued my interest. This was when I formed my nascent opinion about mental hospitals. I watched it again after actually having been in a mental hospital to compare notes. The psych ward is nowhere near as entertaining as the movie.
Here are some of my observations about the movie versus the real psych ward:
You get to have your own stuff and wear your own clothes— with limitations. We are not allowed to have anything we could kill ourselves with. Strangling devices such as belts, hair ties and shoe strings are a big no-no. Makeup, shampoo, body wash, lotion, and hair supplies are also not allowed because most of them contain alcohol in some form. You know, in case we feel like getting drunk. Which is anyone on a psych ward, including the staff. Hahaha JKJK. No really, it’s all of them. I secretly think they do this so we look awful and aren’t wanting to have wild, crazy sex with each other.
Nurses don’t do therapy — therapists do. I would venture to speculate that due to working in a psychiatric hospital, the nurses need therapy too.
Nurse Ratched confronts Billy about having tried to commit suicide in group. No no no, they cannot do that due to patient confidentiality. But it doesn't go both ways apparently. One time during group “check-in” I witnessed a therapist lamenting to us about his 4-out-of-10 day because of his shitty coworkers. True story!
There is no work detail in a psychiatric hospital however I KNOW they want to make us do it.
They cannot do electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) without your permission!!!
There are no steel cages keeping us locked in — but we are locked in. Are you kidding me they are not letting us back out into society until we are stable, functioning human beings again (hahaha joke’s on you doc, I’ve never been stable and functioning in my life!)
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great movie. Great movies are tragicomedies that make us laugh and cry. We laugh, we cry, which is a lot like living with mental illness and a lot like life in general. However, most movies have a happy ending, because we like happy endings. Sometimes, okay a lot of times, I get a happy ending with this mental illness thing. But overall, it’s not a Hollywood Happy Ending like when Chief escapes the ward and runs off to what we can only assume is a happy rest of his life. I have to live with this and sometimes I still get sick, so a happy ending for me is never permanent. But I’ll take a mental illness happy ending when I can get it!
About Me: I am a 41 year old single mother of two sons who absolutely illuminate my life with love. I have several mental illness diagnoses that I do my best to live with. Looking at me, you would never know that anything serious is going on with me. Very often that’s how mental illness and hence the stigma work. There’s clearly (visibly) nothing wrong with you, just get over it already. Sure no problem lemme just get right on that for you, I’ll be over having bipolar by the end of the day. If it only worked that way! This mental illness thang is far from easy, but making inappropriate jokes sometimes really helps. I am hilarious, and I love making people laugh. Also, I militantly work my treatment plan because while stable can be boring, it’s an exponentially better quality of life. I’ve had lots of jobs but I’ve never held one longer than two and a half years. I’m extensively educated and trained in the medical field, but… I no longer work in the medical field (guess who we have to thank for that). My life has been a tragicomedy and I love sharing about it. Ask me anything, seriously. Lastly, I’m a fantastic listener. If you need a friend to just listen you, I will be your friend.
