Mental Illness in Silver Linings Playbook and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Introduction

Since the first recording and theory behind mental illness in the 1800s, the illness has been subject to negative judgment right through to the twentieth century. This commonly held judgment means many patients are forced to deal with the tribulations of the illness but are also subject to social exclusion and prejudices. Overall, people who are mentally ill are affected by the traditional stigma and are pressured to conform and sacrifice any individuality, a familiar idea depicted in both texts: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey and set in the 1960s, and the 2008 film, Silver Linings Playbook, directed by David O. Russell. In both texts, ‘madness’ is represented as detrimental to society, with this perspective encouraging the marginalization and mistreatment of the mentally ill as they are pressured into conforming to society’s expectations.

Mental Illness in Silver Linings Playbook and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

In the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey and set in 1962 modern-day Oregon, significant themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity are explored. Through these themes, Kesey presents the 1960s counterculture protesting individual freedom against a repressive society and the held perception that if one did not conform to ‘normality’, they simply didn’t belong. The hospital itself is a metaphor to further portray the greater oppressive society in the 1950s by creating a marginalized society of ‘sane’ and ‘insane’. During this time, there were questions and challenges to authority in all its forms, particularly around state-run mental health facilities. Psychology today argues how they were poorly funded and organized, with limited proper knowledge of the treatments being used. The challenging of authority is portrayed in the novel through patient McMurphy, who refuses to conform while challenging the profound limitations of institutional practices and therefore, Nurse Ratched, a symbol of authority and conformity from the time. She needs to fix the patients, further drawing a corroboration between Nurse Ratched and a machine as she must fix the broken parts of society being the men, echoing the marginalization and the idea of pressured conformity through incorrect treatments (Kesey, 1962).

Likewise, Silver Linings Playbook, set in 2008, has characters experiencing a modern take on the struggle against the upheld perception that if one did not conform to ‘normality’, they simply didn’t belong. The film depicts ‘madness’ through the two protagonist characters Pat, who suffers from extreme bipolar disorder and was sent to a psychiatric hospital for 8 months for a violent outburst upon discovering his wife’s affair, and Tiffany who is heavily depressed because of her husband’s death. The two characters cross paths and in a world where madness is cured by love, the two characters simply help heal by matching their ‘madness’. Through deep analysis of their struggle to lead a normal life, Russell portrays how they don’t fit into society and how the negative stigma and perception around their mental illness is unable to be lifted. For basic experiences such as dinners, family conversations, and romantic relationships, both characters struggle as others treat them differently for their mental illness. Due to the negative stigma around their illness, the characters are driven insane by society's pressure to conform and as a result, their recovery is challenged (Russell, 2008).

The Importance of Support Systems

The relationships between characters in both texts depict how pivotal one's support system is in recouping their mental well-being. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Chief Bromden endures a hindered recovery and suffers more immensely from his mental illness as a result of the 1960s culture and a poor support system. His character suffers from paranoia and a past of belittlement and therefore prefers to act mute and hide from reality in a medication-inflicted fog. The fog he observes symbolizes how the patients were dehumanized as Chief hallucinates the ward to be run by machinery that controls the men physically and psychologically. Initially, Chief suffers alone in his thoughts, manipulated by Nurse Ratched into thinking he is invisible and mute, unable to see himself another way. Therefore, reinforcing how his withdrawal into himself is a result of the nurses belittling him and how as an ultimatum, Bromden has a hindered recovery from his ‘madness’ as a result of a poor support system. Furthermore, one's support system is pivotal in overcoming mental illness. Parallels can be seen in modern society as over 450 million people suffer from mental illness but two-thirds of people never seek help from a health professional, an indicator that with the right support more people would speak up (Kesey, 1962).

In contrast, David O. Russell uses relationships within Silver Linings Playbook to emphasize the positive impacts on a family and the dynamics when needing to take care of someone who is mentally ill, adding a hopeful angle of how love can help heal one’s mental state. Pat is a character who suffers from extreme bipolar disorder and was admitted to a psychiatric inpatient facility for nearly beating someone to death in a violent outburst. However, after 8 months, Pat is released as his mother Dolores checks him out. As the family adjusts to the new circumstances, the family is driven to its breaking point, which is seen through the scene when Pat accidentally elbows his mother and ends up in a physical fight with his father and wakes up the neighbors. In this scene, Pat has an extremely violent outburst trying to find his wedding album his parents have hidden to help him get over his cheating wife. Through the fast panning movements of different shots of Pat and his father fighting and close shots of the expressions of infuriation on Pat’s face as he fights his father, it becomes clear he is unable to see the irrationality in his actions. Even though the family has its struggles, his parents continue to support him. Their relationship depicts how the love for a child is unconditional and Pat has an amazing support system. This idea that people who are mentally ill can heal as part of society with support is relevant as the stigma around mental illness is slowly uplifting and exploits the marginalization of people who are ‘mad’ (Russell, 2008).

Questioning Medical Authority

Likewise to One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, the characters Pat and Tiffany do not receive what they deem helpful treatment for their illness and find sanity from unprescribed activities. Throughout the film, we see Pat refuse to take his medication as it affects him negatively, “they make me foggy, they make me bloated,” similarly to Tiffany who stopped taking hers as she, “wasn’t as sharp.” Through Pat’s doctor who says in a therapy session, 'I'm going to up your meds,' and that 'You might feel a little sluggish, but it should help to curb your violent outbursts,” the authority of ‘medical experts’ is questioned due to the film illustrating the prescribed treatments to be ineffective. The doctor is aware Pat will feel worse physically, however, implements more dosage as a way for Pat to go into a state of sluggishness so he doesn’t have the energy to be violent. With such stated, the question is raised through Tiffany and Patrick and their involvement in dance and fitness, if these physical practices are more beneficial than prescribed medication in the long run. Therefore reinforcing how often treatments prescribed to people who are mentally unwell aren’t that effective in the long run, can cause more harm than good and other treatments such as physical activity can be more beneficial. This highlights relevance to modern society as studies have been conducted into the effect of physical activity on one's mental health, with studies concluding that alternative approaches can complement traditional treatments (Russell, 2008).

Conclusion

As exemplified above, the film Silver Linings Playbook and the text One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest bring light to the damning stigma surrounding mental health which perceives ‘madness’ to be detrimental to society, encouraging the marginalization and mistreatment towards the mentally ill as they are pressured into conforming to society’s expectations. Director Russell exhibits how people who are mentally unwell are perceived but also treated in society once re-entering society not fully deemed ‘well’ when they were taken out to be ‘fixed’. This draws attention to the overwhelming impact mental health can have on relations but also how the perception of ‘madness’ can lead to long-term treatment in order to be ‘sane.’ Equally seen through author Kesey’s novel, which instead has characters who suffer from mental illness marginalized from society instead of them re-entering. Both texts relate to modern-day as they examine the traditional perception of ‘madness’ held by the group of people in society and therefore how that affects how they treat people who are mentally unwell in society to be different.

References

• Kesey, K. (1962). One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Viking Press.
• Russell, D. O. (Director). (2008). Silver Linings Playbook [Film]. The Weinstein Company.