Summary
The main character, Tommy Wilhelm, goes to meet his father, Dr. Adler for breakfast at the hotel they're staying at. Tommy meets his father for breakfast every morning, but there was something about this particular morning that felt different for Wilhelm. There was a change in routine as far as where Wilhelm would meet his dad, and he felt that this change was a sign that something bad was coming. Wilhelm also tells about his life. He mentions how he lost his job so he's suffering financially. He also expresses how much he wishes that he had his father's help. Dr. Adler is rich and had the circumstances to help Wilhelm, but despite him expressing his financial troubles his father does not volunteer to help him. Wilhelm has tried to get his money by gambling but he has not proved successful in doing such. Wilhelm also talks about his sister who graduated from Bryn Mawr college and his mom who passed away. Wilhelm also talks about when he disappointed his parents by dropping out of college and moving to California to go to Maurice Venice, the talent scout. But when he gets there he finds out that the talent agency that was a cover up for prostitution. Tommy Wilhelm also changed his name and his real name is Wilhelm Adler. Wilhelm pleads to God begging him for a helping hand. Dr. Adler disapproves of Wilhelm and says that he should be at home with his wife and children. Wilhelm also causes the reader to lose respect for his father because he doesn't even remember the death of his wife, so it seems as if he doesn't even care. When Tommy finally meets his father a man named Mr. Perls joins them and this upsets Tommy because he feels that his father did that because he would be embarrassed being alone with his son. After breakfast his father expresses his disapproval for Wilhelm's behavior by saying he has disgusting habits such as smoking and popping pills. Eventually Wilhelm tells his dad that he expects his help and needs his help financially, but his father refuses to send him any money.
After breakfast Wilhelm is left blaming himself and his father for his situation. But he recalls a time when he had dealings with a guy named Dr. Tamkin when he signed over some of his money to him. He mentions how confusing his dealing with Dr. Tamkin was because he had moments where he felt he could truts him and then other times when he felt that Dr. Tamkin was lying to him. This helps him draw the conclusion that every human has a real person and a fake human being inside of them and also how humans don't have freedom because of the pretender part of their soul. Tamkin gave Wilhelm a poem that was inspired by him called "Mechanism vs Functionalism/Ism vs Hism." The poem is about someone who doesn't see their true potential, but how instead he should seize the day and see the power he has inside. This poem gets Tommy to rethink about his life and where it is heading.
Quote
"Seek ye then that which art not there
In thine own glory let thyself rest.
Witness. Thy power is not bare.
Thou art King. Thou art at thy best" (Bellow 58).
Reaction
When I read this I thought it was a nice way of saying that you have good potential you just don't see it. Another reason is because I like old english better than the english we speak now. Language and the way people drove a point back then just sounded so much better than the way people speak now. But I found Wilhelm's reaction to this poem rather interesting. He seemed offended by this poem. He had no idea what the purpose was but he was but he was damning him to hell. He was saying that the man was trying to kill him with this poem. I'm not sure if Wilhelm really believes that Tamkin was trying to cause harm with this poem or if he's just not used to someone telling him to believe in himself considering his father doesn't and he doesn't have his mom. Wilhelm is always looking at the bad in himself and how he let his parents down, but Tamkin was trying to tell him that despite his mistakes he still has good potential and he can still be successful.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Gracefully Insane (pgs 217-244)
Summary
Walter Jackson Freeman published a book called Psychiatrist: Personalities and Patterns. The final chapter is called "Mortido: The Death Instinct" and in this chapter eight psychiatrists committed suicide. Freeman looked up his own research on psychiatric suicide and he reported that 203 America psychiatrists commited suicide. This report caught many people's attention. The question is raised as to why psychiatrists would want to kill themselves. Many have said that they wanted to become psychiatrists to "wrestle wit their own demons". They wanted to find out what was wrong with them. Continued research also showed that one in every three psychiatrist suffered from mania or depression. This research suggested that psychiatrists are either depressed from practicing their profession or that some people become psychiatrists because they suffer from a disorder. Depressions and mental illness is infectious, so sometimes nurses, therapists, and psychiatric aides break down themselves because they are surrounded by a depressing environment.
About twenty five years later, it seems that the world has given up on mental health care, or at least taking care of the expenses for it. Insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid programs, and health maintenance organizations have cut back immensely on reimbursements for the mental health of patients. Those in the health care field are just hoping for the best despite there being quick diagnoses and also fast drug prescriptions. Brief, fifteen minute visits are made explaining the different side effects of these medications. This new order of things has been hard on the psychiatrists as well as the patients. The patients were concerned about being diagnosed with the wrong disorder when the visits made to them are not long enough to determine them.
At the end of the day, being at the McLean, despite its weaknesses, was a source of refreshment for many patients who were there. One former patient named Susanna Kaysen mentioned that she loved being a patient at the McLean hospital because after she left she felt good. She also mentioned that she enjoyed the Manic-Depressive and Depressive Association during her tour because she felt relief because she was understood. At the end of rhe day, the McLean hospital was a nice journey to many of the patients and workers there.
Quote
"It is not uncommon for psychiatrists to check themselves into a sanitarium or hospital, although they usually seek shelter outside their practice area to avoid the possible embarrassment of meeting patients or students inside the hospital" (Beam 219).
Reaction
It was strange to read that there are also many psychiatrists and therapists that need psychiatrists and therapists of their own. I mean it makes sense when you think about it because they have weaknesses just like the patients they are helping, but people don't always think about that. A therapist to many people is almost considered like a superhero or whatever you want to call it, trying to help the lives of others, but people don't always think about the fact that they have things in their life they find hard to deal with too. In the end no matter what your profession is, even if its helping other people, those helping others still are human and need help themselves.
Walter Jackson Freeman published a book called Psychiatrist: Personalities and Patterns. The final chapter is called "Mortido: The Death Instinct" and in this chapter eight psychiatrists committed suicide. Freeman looked up his own research on psychiatric suicide and he reported that 203 America psychiatrists commited suicide. This report caught many people's attention. The question is raised as to why psychiatrists would want to kill themselves. Many have said that they wanted to become psychiatrists to "wrestle wit their own demons". They wanted to find out what was wrong with them. Continued research also showed that one in every three psychiatrist suffered from mania or depression. This research suggested that psychiatrists are either depressed from practicing their profession or that some people become psychiatrists because they suffer from a disorder. Depressions and mental illness is infectious, so sometimes nurses, therapists, and psychiatric aides break down themselves because they are surrounded by a depressing environment.
About twenty five years later, it seems that the world has given up on mental health care, or at least taking care of the expenses for it. Insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid programs, and health maintenance organizations have cut back immensely on reimbursements for the mental health of patients. Those in the health care field are just hoping for the best despite there being quick diagnoses and also fast drug prescriptions. Brief, fifteen minute visits are made explaining the different side effects of these medications. This new order of things has been hard on the psychiatrists as well as the patients. The patients were concerned about being diagnosed with the wrong disorder when the visits made to them are not long enough to determine them.
At the end of the day, being at the McLean, despite its weaknesses, was a source of refreshment for many patients who were there. One former patient named Susanna Kaysen mentioned that she loved being a patient at the McLean hospital because after she left she felt good. She also mentioned that she enjoyed the Manic-Depressive and Depressive Association during her tour because she felt relief because she was understood. At the end of rhe day, the McLean hospital was a nice journey to many of the patients and workers there.
Quote
"It is not uncommon for psychiatrists to check themselves into a sanitarium or hospital, although they usually seek shelter outside their practice area to avoid the possible embarrassment of meeting patients or students inside the hospital" (Beam 219).
Reaction
It was strange to read that there are also many psychiatrists and therapists that need psychiatrists and therapists of their own. I mean it makes sense when you think about it because they have weaknesses just like the patients they are helping, but people don't always think about that. A therapist to many people is almost considered like a superhero or whatever you want to call it, trying to help the lives of others, but people don't always think about the fact that they have things in their life they find hard to deal with too. In the end no matter what your profession is, even if its helping other people, those helping others still are human and need help themselves.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Gracefully Insane (pgs 169-215)
Summary
When psychiatrists are treating their patients, they never use the word "cure". Instead they say that they are trying to clear their minds, therefore freeing them from anxiety, depression, and mental illness. A patient named SLouis Shaw was put into McLean hospital because he killed someone. It was his cousin Louis and his explanation for doing so was that he did something that was highly inappropriate. It was later found out that Louis was reported for killing Delia, his maid, by choking her death. His motive for doing so was not determined, but the crime brought shame to his family. It was on the front cover of newspapers and magazines. But Louis never went to trial. He was sent to the asylum in Bridgewater and then McLean. Louis was treated with respect there.
One psychiatrist mentioned that the McLean hospital conisted of patients whose families did not want then to get better. Louis Shaw was an example of this. His family did not want him to regain his sanity because after he did he would have to go to trial for murder. His lawyers paid bills on time and he was considered harmless majority of the time. He was considered one of the many patients who were offered more in McLean hospital than they would be offered on their own. Louis dressed oddly and he was a huge slob. However, in his late seventies his nurses found him relatively easy to control. But later McLean officials decided that it was time to let him go because having him there was becoming very expensive. Instead, he was placed in a North Shore nursing home. He was stabilized as far as his mood was concerned because of the drugs he was taking, but his therapist suggested that he could still get vicious and violent. When he died, he left almost four million dollars in assets. The McLean hospital was trying to get some of that money in order to restore the Pleasant Street gatehouse since Louis was staying there for a period of time.
Quote
"So we went to the lawyers and we proposed a deal. We named a price, about $500,000, and we said we'd keep Louis for that price. If he died in a year, we'd make a lot of money, but if he lived ten years, we'd lose a lot of money. It seemed unorthodox, but they didn't bat an eyelash. They liked the idea, and they thought Louis would approve, since he liked to gamble" (Beam 181).
Reaction
I found this quote really interesting because the Nursing home that Louis was supposed to be sent to and the McLean hospital were basically betting on his life. If he was to live or die in a certain amount of time, one of them would get a lot of money while the other would lose. It almost seems like the importance is not of Louis's sanity or his survival. Its just about getting money. The book doesn't mention how many years it was after this proposition was made that he died, nor did they mention who gained a lot of money from his death. It only mentioned that McLean was trying to obtain as much of that money as they could. I was also wondering if after they formed this idea, if they cared for Louis differently. Does this mean that employees of the McLean hospital stopped giving him certain medication that he needed so that he would die within that year and they could get the money? Or likewise with the Nursing home he was sent to when they took care of him? They could have made it seem like they really wanted to help him when they're trying to keep him alive, or quicken his death, because of their own greed. After all earlier in the book it did mention the weakness of those in McLean hospital of being greedy, only thinking about getting more money. I also found it interesting that they thought Louis would approve of this gamble, since gambling is his favorite thing. They never actually said that they mentioned this idea to him, so I was wondering if Louis even knew about it. And if he did, if he actually did approve of it. It wouldn't make sense to me if he did because he's betting on his own life as well, and no matter who wins, he won't obtain any of the benefit money.
When psychiatrists are treating their patients, they never use the word "cure". Instead they say that they are trying to clear their minds, therefore freeing them from anxiety, depression, and mental illness. A patient named SLouis Shaw was put into McLean hospital because he killed someone. It was his cousin Louis and his explanation for doing so was that he did something that was highly inappropriate. It was later found out that Louis was reported for killing Delia, his maid, by choking her death. His motive for doing so was not determined, but the crime brought shame to his family. It was on the front cover of newspapers and magazines. But Louis never went to trial. He was sent to the asylum in Bridgewater and then McLean. Louis was treated with respect there.
One psychiatrist mentioned that the McLean hospital conisted of patients whose families did not want then to get better. Louis Shaw was an example of this. His family did not want him to regain his sanity because after he did he would have to go to trial for murder. His lawyers paid bills on time and he was considered harmless majority of the time. He was considered one of the many patients who were offered more in McLean hospital than they would be offered on their own. Louis dressed oddly and he was a huge slob. However, in his late seventies his nurses found him relatively easy to control. But later McLean officials decided that it was time to let him go because having him there was becoming very expensive. Instead, he was placed in a North Shore nursing home. He was stabilized as far as his mood was concerned because of the drugs he was taking, but his therapist suggested that he could still get vicious and violent. When he died, he left almost four million dollars in assets. The McLean hospital was trying to get some of that money in order to restore the Pleasant Street gatehouse since Louis was staying there for a period of time.
Quote
"So we went to the lawyers and we proposed a deal. We named a price, about $500,000, and we said we'd keep Louis for that price. If he died in a year, we'd make a lot of money, but if he lived ten years, we'd lose a lot of money. It seemed unorthodox, but they didn't bat an eyelash. They liked the idea, and they thought Louis would approve, since he liked to gamble" (Beam 181).
Reaction
I found this quote really interesting because the Nursing home that Louis was supposed to be sent to and the McLean hospital were basically betting on his life. If he was to live or die in a certain amount of time, one of them would get a lot of money while the other would lose. It almost seems like the importance is not of Louis's sanity or his survival. Its just about getting money. The book doesn't mention how many years it was after this proposition was made that he died, nor did they mention who gained a lot of money from his death. It only mentioned that McLean was trying to obtain as much of that money as they could. I was also wondering if after they formed this idea, if they cared for Louis differently. Does this mean that employees of the McLean hospital stopped giving him certain medication that he needed so that he would die within that year and they could get the money? Or likewise with the Nursing home he was sent to when they took care of him? They could have made it seem like they really wanted to help him when they're trying to keep him alive, or quicken his death, because of their own greed. After all earlier in the book it did mention the weakness of those in McLean hospital of being greedy, only thinking about getting more money. I also found it interesting that they thought Louis would approve of this gamble, since gambling is his favorite thing. They never actually said that they mentioned this idea to him, so I was wondering if Louis even knew about it. And if he did, if he actually did approve of it. It wouldn't make sense to me if he did because he's betting on his own life as well, and no matter who wins, he won't obtain any of the benefit money.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Gracefully Insane (pgs 145-168)
Summary
They talk about another former patient by the name of Anne Sexton. She wrote poetry because she felt that it was the only thing that would keep her sane. Her doctor, Dr. Orne, often read her poems and loved them. He says that her poems were a major part of her gaining back her sanity. They were significant to the extent that her doctor said poetry is what saved her life. She was able to return home to her family. Other former patients also wrote poetry, such as Sylvia Plath and Robert Lowell. However, poetry didn't impact them as strongly as it did Sexton. Plath and Lowell both knew that they weren't stable. They often talked to each other about committing suicide. Then Plath finally died, and Sexton wrote a poem suggesting that Plath stole her place in death. However, they talk about Plath's experiences in McLean before her death. Plath received two shock treatments and from those treatments she was able to regain her personality and composure. This was at a very quick pace, so that in the same month she got those treatments, which was in December, she was able to share Christmas with her family at home. But later she got married, and her marriage was reaching a crisis because her husband was having an affair. They eventually separated, and four months later Plath committed suicide. Soon poetry became very popular for the patients of McLean. The poems were so good that they were eventually published. One of Sexton's students Eleanor Morris, was truly affected by her poetry. However, he relates the sadness at her loss. He mentioned that when they said that she died, he knew that she had committed suicide and he cried the entire morning. He still possesses a book of poems that she wrote, and to this day Eleanor writes poetry in Concord, Massachusetts.
Quote
"Exalted like a queen among sin
and those who only half dared to reach for help. But I believed
that anywhere she'd come would be where
all sorts of thoughts, ill-formed, might be conceived,
and come out twitching, perfect infants through the hair
I imagined she had never let them shave.
She seemed, before meeting, to be, in that way, say, brave." (Beam 166).
Reaction
One of Sexton's students sent her this poem that he wrote. I knew there was a deep meaning to this poem that I probably was not getting, but it still caught my attention. Especially when he says that she was "exalted like a queen among sin". I thought maybe he was saying this because the queen is perfect, which is why she's exalted, but all the people surrounding her are sinful. However, he contradicts that statement later on when he says that where she comes from there would be ill-formed thoughts. Or he might be saying that wherever she goes she's surrounded by those thoughts. I'm not too sure, but that's about my best guess. However, I don't know why he mentions that the thoughts come out twitching through the hair of perfect infants. I'm assuming that he's saying that one day these thoughts will escape their minds. But it is not escaping their minds yet because as he says at the end of his poem she doesn't let them shave their heads, so the sick thoughts cannot escape their minds. However, I'm not sure why he says that it makes her brave. I guess because keeping those sick thoughts in their mind for so long would make them insane, and she is at risk of being the cause of that because she does not let those thoughts escape them.
They talk about another former patient by the name of Anne Sexton. She wrote poetry because she felt that it was the only thing that would keep her sane. Her doctor, Dr. Orne, often read her poems and loved them. He says that her poems were a major part of her gaining back her sanity. They were significant to the extent that her doctor said poetry is what saved her life. She was able to return home to her family. Other former patients also wrote poetry, such as Sylvia Plath and Robert Lowell. However, poetry didn't impact them as strongly as it did Sexton. Plath and Lowell both knew that they weren't stable. They often talked to each other about committing suicide. Then Plath finally died, and Sexton wrote a poem suggesting that Plath stole her place in death. However, they talk about Plath's experiences in McLean before her death. Plath received two shock treatments and from those treatments she was able to regain her personality and composure. This was at a very quick pace, so that in the same month she got those treatments, which was in December, she was able to share Christmas with her family at home. But later she got married, and her marriage was reaching a crisis because her husband was having an affair. They eventually separated, and four months later Plath committed suicide. Soon poetry became very popular for the patients of McLean. The poems were so good that they were eventually published. One of Sexton's students Eleanor Morris, was truly affected by her poetry. However, he relates the sadness at her loss. He mentioned that when they said that she died, he knew that she had committed suicide and he cried the entire morning. He still possesses a book of poems that she wrote, and to this day Eleanor writes poetry in Concord, Massachusetts.
Quote
"Exalted like a queen among sin
and those who only half dared to reach for help. But I believed
that anywhere she'd come would be where
all sorts of thoughts, ill-formed, might be conceived,
and come out twitching, perfect infants through the hair
I imagined she had never let them shave.
She seemed, before meeting, to be, in that way, say, brave." (Beam 166).
Reaction
One of Sexton's students sent her this poem that he wrote. I knew there was a deep meaning to this poem that I probably was not getting, but it still caught my attention. Especially when he says that she was "exalted like a queen among sin". I thought maybe he was saying this because the queen is perfect, which is why she's exalted, but all the people surrounding her are sinful. However, he contradicts that statement later on when he says that where she comes from there would be ill-formed thoughts. Or he might be saying that wherever she goes she's surrounded by those thoughts. I'm not too sure, but that's about my best guess. However, I don't know why he mentions that the thoughts come out twitching through the hair of perfect infants. I'm assuming that he's saying that one day these thoughts will escape their minds. But it is not escaping their minds yet because as he says at the end of his poem she doesn't let them shave their heads, so the sick thoughts cannot escape their minds. However, I'm not sure why he says that it makes her brave. I guess because keeping those sick thoughts in their mind for so long would make them insane, and she is at risk of being the cause of that because she does not let those thoughts escape them.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Gracefully Insane (pgs 91-143)
Summary
Next there is mention of a former patient by the name of Horace Frink. He suffered through moments of depression for thirteen years and he also had "toxic headaches". The only way that they could go away was if he had long periods to do nothing but relax. However, he wasn't able to do that. He was sleeping only a few hours a night and was often giddy. Horace said that he was a very talkative and happy person, but there were times where he experienced "a sense of unreslity and an inability to form mental pictures" (Beam 96). There was also concern that he was a homosexual, though promiscuous, but disguising it, for he was having sexual relations with another woman who he said was queer like a man. He eventually married this woman, but things don't work out and she tries divorcing him. As a result he became suicidal, tyring to kill himself first by overdosing and then stabbing his artery in the bend of his elbow. He was then sent to McLean hospital and was released five months later in good condition, able to go to his divorce meetings. But later he died of heart disease at the age of fifty-three.
McLean was having financial problems. It wasn't so much that they didn't have enough money to keep running. but that people were not putting money in its rightful place. Money seemed to be the main goal. In fact, the cost in the McLean hospital was rising because of their greed. A guy named Wood said that the amount of people who did their job for the purpose of helping their patients was decreasing each year. He said that "no longer does the feeling of satisfaction in a job well-done and the helping of others serve as a goal" (Beam 120). Money was the only thing on their minds. McLean needed help from these wicked minds. Alfred Stanton was hired to assist them because he had brains and morals. He also believed that psychotherapy could successfully be applied to even the worst cases of schizophrenia. Stanton also worked with men who believed the theory that mental illness did not stem from one's traumatic childhood, but rather from damaged interpersonal relationships. Stanton's hand in the McLean hospital changed the way they cared for their patients. Electroshock therapy or insulin shock therapy was not his approved way of helping people. He also felt that the best way to cure someone is to cure them without drugs, unless their situation was severely bad. Stanton also instituted a work-up, which required a long report from patients about their history. He believed that if you had enough history on the patient, it would be a lot easier to understand their psychodynamic diagnosis. However, this lengthy process drained on both the patients and the employees.
It was also noted that since Scanton was in charge of McLean hospital, the number of suicides had increased. It was increasing in that hospital more than the average hospital. Even when the staff would do five minute check-ups on the patients, they somehow managed to kill themselves. People found it rather ironic that the man who wrote a book about mental illness could not successfully run a hospital that specializes in that area.
Quote
"I heard really wild stories about McLean, about people running across the campus in the nude...and that was a disaster for the hospital...There was not a lot going on except that people were being entertained" (Beam 120).
Reaction
This quote is speaking of the mixed reputation that McLean was experiencing at this time. Not only were people greedy, but there were also patients that were running around naked throughout the campus. Now, at this time McLean seemed as if it was in the most help its ever needed. That's when Alfred Stanton came along. However, it seems as if he made things worse because now a lot of people were commiting suicide. The book doesn't really explain why, but I think one thing that factored into it was the process that it took patients to get help. One patient said that you were constantly getting tested and they were trying to figure out what therapy and treatment you need. It would be at least a month until they finally gave you the help that you needed. I think after awhile people just got sick of waiting for the help, probably feeling like they would never get it, and just decided to end it all and kill themselves. I have mixed feelings about Stanton because he seems to have a lot of knowledge about mental illnesses considering he wrote a whole book about it, but dealing with them personally he can't succeed in.
Next there is mention of a former patient by the name of Horace Frink. He suffered through moments of depression for thirteen years and he also had "toxic headaches". The only way that they could go away was if he had long periods to do nothing but relax. However, he wasn't able to do that. He was sleeping only a few hours a night and was often giddy. Horace said that he was a very talkative and happy person, but there were times where he experienced "a sense of unreslity and an inability to form mental pictures" (Beam 96). There was also concern that he was a homosexual, though promiscuous, but disguising it, for he was having sexual relations with another woman who he said was queer like a man. He eventually married this woman, but things don't work out and she tries divorcing him. As a result he became suicidal, tyring to kill himself first by overdosing and then stabbing his artery in the bend of his elbow. He was then sent to McLean hospital and was released five months later in good condition, able to go to his divorce meetings. But later he died of heart disease at the age of fifty-three.
McLean was having financial problems. It wasn't so much that they didn't have enough money to keep running. but that people were not putting money in its rightful place. Money seemed to be the main goal. In fact, the cost in the McLean hospital was rising because of their greed. A guy named Wood said that the amount of people who did their job for the purpose of helping their patients was decreasing each year. He said that "no longer does the feeling of satisfaction in a job well-done and the helping of others serve as a goal" (Beam 120). Money was the only thing on their minds. McLean needed help from these wicked minds. Alfred Stanton was hired to assist them because he had brains and morals. He also believed that psychotherapy could successfully be applied to even the worst cases of schizophrenia. Stanton also worked with men who believed the theory that mental illness did not stem from one's traumatic childhood, but rather from damaged interpersonal relationships. Stanton's hand in the McLean hospital changed the way they cared for their patients. Electroshock therapy or insulin shock therapy was not his approved way of helping people. He also felt that the best way to cure someone is to cure them without drugs, unless their situation was severely bad. Stanton also instituted a work-up, which required a long report from patients about their history. He believed that if you had enough history on the patient, it would be a lot easier to understand their psychodynamic diagnosis. However, this lengthy process drained on both the patients and the employees.
It was also noted that since Scanton was in charge of McLean hospital, the number of suicides had increased. It was increasing in that hospital more than the average hospital. Even when the staff would do five minute check-ups on the patients, they somehow managed to kill themselves. People found it rather ironic that the man who wrote a book about mental illness could not successfully run a hospital that specializes in that area.
Quote
"I heard really wild stories about McLean, about people running across the campus in the nude...and that was a disaster for the hospital...There was not a lot going on except that people were being entertained" (Beam 120).
Reaction
This quote is speaking of the mixed reputation that McLean was experiencing at this time. Not only were people greedy, but there were also patients that were running around naked throughout the campus. Now, at this time McLean seemed as if it was in the most help its ever needed. That's when Alfred Stanton came along. However, it seems as if he made things worse because now a lot of people were commiting suicide. The book doesn't really explain why, but I think one thing that factored into it was the process that it took patients to get help. One patient said that you were constantly getting tested and they were trying to figure out what therapy and treatment you need. It would be at least a month until they finally gave you the help that you needed. I think after awhile people just got sick of waiting for the help, probably feeling like they would never get it, and just decided to end it all and kill themselves. I have mixed feelings about Stanton because he seems to have a lot of knowledge about mental illnesses considering he wrote a whole book about it, but dealing with them personally he can't succeed in.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Gracefully Insane (pgs 1-91)
Summary
Gracefully Insane by Alex Beam discusses the history of the McLean hospital, which is a hospital for those with a mental illness. It starts off by mentioning that this hospital does not look like a mental hospital. Rather, it emulates the look of a college with its dorms inside. There are no fences, guards, or locked gates. The hospital was named after a guy named John McLean who was born into a wealthy family. Horace Mann mentioned how there needed to be a home for those mentally insane, and McLean took ownership of the McLean hospital. The people of this hospital believed that treating the mentally ill like criminals was not effective. Instead of whipping them and handcuffing them, they were introduced to the important of hygiene, living conditions that were fit for a human, and they had therapies. Their view was that they should feel like they are in a place of refuge, rather than feeling like they're in a prison, or place of torture. They also talk about the different patients that they had. For example, they talk about their former patient John Warren, who eventually got into trouble with prostitutes and police. His father sent him to McLean to get help, but while he was there he had episodes of paranoia, wild outbursts, and he even made an attempt to escape. He started hearing voices wrapped socks over his shoes so that his strength wouldn't go out of his legs. A few years later he got sick with a painful cough. He spiked with morphine and peppermint to relieve himself from the pain. Later he died because of abscess of his right lung.
As the years went by there would be a sheriff in town that would join the McLean hospital and create a new method for treating their patients. For example, two doctors in McLean used a method called hypothermia. They did this by lowering the temperature of the patient's body so that they nearly reach death. They noticed that by cooling the bodies of some patients showed improvement. A sixteen-year-old boy improved so much mentally that he was well enough to leave the hospital and go home. However, it didn't go well when they tried the same method with a forty-six-year old man who was schizophrenic. He died because his blood pressure could not get warm and rise back to normal. They also tried shock therapies such as insulin coma, metrazol, and electricshock. Electroschock was considered safer and easier than insulin coma and metrazol. There were some patients they tried this method on that were able to leave the hospital, while there were others that suffered fractures in their spine, and some even dislocated their jaw. An example of where this method failed was when it was used on the patient named Sarah Worthington who was admitted to McLean for trying to commit suicide. She suffered depression, and the electroshock made it worse. Then she was lobotomized, and she experienced dramatic improvement. The doctors said that the lobotomy helped her solve many of the problems she had that other therapies couldn't fix. Her IQ increased after her surgery, and she eventually was able to leave McLean. She even wrote her doctor a letter of appreciation and also explained how she was doing so much better.
Quote
"...and in Christian countries it must always be considered the first of duties to visit and to heal the sick...It is worthy of the opulent men of this town, and consistent with the general character, to provide an asylum for the insane from every part of the Commonwealth" (Jackson and Warren 19).
Reaction
Jackson and Warren both believed that it was important to take care of those who were mentally ill. They took part in the work at the McLean hospital. In fact, they are partially responsible for the existence of the hospital. They deemed it necessary for those who were mentally ill to have a place that they can stay where it is geared towards getting them help. Unlike other places that would just beat on the sick, they wanted to heal them. Beating them like criminals will not fix their mental disabilites. Rather, finding methods or therapies for them and making them feel comfortable is what is truly going to make them better. Of course, there isn't one method that works for everyone, but as they tried new things improvements were made, and there were patients who were well enough to return home with their families.
Gracefully Insane by Alex Beam discusses the history of the McLean hospital, which is a hospital for those with a mental illness. It starts off by mentioning that this hospital does not look like a mental hospital. Rather, it emulates the look of a college with its dorms inside. There are no fences, guards, or locked gates. The hospital was named after a guy named John McLean who was born into a wealthy family. Horace Mann mentioned how there needed to be a home for those mentally insane, and McLean took ownership of the McLean hospital. The people of this hospital believed that treating the mentally ill like criminals was not effective. Instead of whipping them and handcuffing them, they were introduced to the important of hygiene, living conditions that were fit for a human, and they had therapies. Their view was that they should feel like they are in a place of refuge, rather than feeling like they're in a prison, or place of torture. They also talk about the different patients that they had. For example, they talk about their former patient John Warren, who eventually got into trouble with prostitutes and police. His father sent him to McLean to get help, but while he was there he had episodes of paranoia, wild outbursts, and he even made an attempt to escape. He started hearing voices wrapped socks over his shoes so that his strength wouldn't go out of his legs. A few years later he got sick with a painful cough. He spiked with morphine and peppermint to relieve himself from the pain. Later he died because of abscess of his right lung.
As the years went by there would be a sheriff in town that would join the McLean hospital and create a new method for treating their patients. For example, two doctors in McLean used a method called hypothermia. They did this by lowering the temperature of the patient's body so that they nearly reach death. They noticed that by cooling the bodies of some patients showed improvement. A sixteen-year-old boy improved so much mentally that he was well enough to leave the hospital and go home. However, it didn't go well when they tried the same method with a forty-six-year old man who was schizophrenic. He died because his blood pressure could not get warm and rise back to normal. They also tried shock therapies such as insulin coma, metrazol, and electricshock. Electroschock was considered safer and easier than insulin coma and metrazol. There were some patients they tried this method on that were able to leave the hospital, while there were others that suffered fractures in their spine, and some even dislocated their jaw. An example of where this method failed was when it was used on the patient named Sarah Worthington who was admitted to McLean for trying to commit suicide. She suffered depression, and the electroshock made it worse. Then she was lobotomized, and she experienced dramatic improvement. The doctors said that the lobotomy helped her solve many of the problems she had that other therapies couldn't fix. Her IQ increased after her surgery, and she eventually was able to leave McLean. She even wrote her doctor a letter of appreciation and also explained how she was doing so much better.
Quote
"...and in Christian countries it must always be considered the first of duties to visit and to heal the sick...It is worthy of the opulent men of this town, and consistent with the general character, to provide an asylum for the insane from every part of the Commonwealth" (Jackson and Warren 19).
Reaction
Jackson and Warren both believed that it was important to take care of those who were mentally ill. They took part in the work at the McLean hospital. In fact, they are partially responsible for the existence of the hospital. They deemed it necessary for those who were mentally ill to have a place that they can stay where it is geared towards getting them help. Unlike other places that would just beat on the sick, they wanted to heal them. Beating them like criminals will not fix their mental disabilites. Rather, finding methods or therapies for them and making them feel comfortable is what is truly going to make them better. Of course, there isn't one method that works for everyone, but as they tried new things improvements were made, and there were patients who were well enough to return home with their families.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Twisted (pgs 184-250)
Summary:
Tyler woke up one Friday afternoon and looked himself in the mirror, thinking of how his life is going downhill and how he doesn't deserve to live. He begins thinking of different ways to end his life, and decides to go to the school and jump at the bottom of the pool. But once he gets there he talks himself out of it because he doesn't want the little children to see him and be terrified for the rest of their lives at what they saw. Tyler then goes back home and decides that instead he's just going to take his father's money and run away. However, Hannah finds a letter Tyler wrote stating that he was going to run away because he didn't want to go to boarding school, and she said not to act stupid. Before she leaves he says that he won't run away, but lies and takes his father's money. Before he leaves, he grabs his grandfather's sweater out of his father's drawer, and he also holds his father's pistol in his hand. He holds it, considering whether he should shoot or not. Instead he takes the gun and the box of bullets before he leaves the room and grabs his baseball bat out the closet. He gets some baseballs pitched to him and then goes to the lake with Yoda to toss the bullets into the lake, and takes apart the gun and leaves it in his bag. The next day he goes to school telling Chip to beat him up and that he's a punk. The police come to Tyler's home later that day telling him that they've found the kid who was reponsible for the pictures of Bethany and that he will not be punished for that. Later on in the day, however, Tyler's father comes home blaming Tyler for him losing his job, since Mr. Milbury is his boss and also Chip's father.Tyler gets the bat and goes downstairs smashing everything with it and telling his father about how he was going to kill himself or run away. His father asks him why he didn't do either, and Tyler said because his father has already killed him. Tyler spends the rest of the night at Yoda's house and the next night he sees his father sitting outside of their house. He said to Tyler that he couldn't sleep and that he would want Tyler to come back and stay with them. Tyler stays and plays his video game and tries to act wisely while he's playing it. This is how the story ends.
Quote:
"You have screwed up everything. You have a 0.00 GPA in Life. You are a useless f***, a waste of carbon molecules. You are the spawn of a defective sperm and a reluctant egg. You do not deserve to live" (Anderson 190).
Reaction:
Tyler was having this thought one Friday afternoon when he was looking at himself in the mirror. I like how the author used the metaphor of a GPA to describe Tyler's life. He said he has a 0.00 GPA in life, so his life is pretty much going downhill for him, getting worse and worse. I also like how he described his waste of existence as being a waste of carbon molecules. He also stresses the fact that he doesn't deserve to live when he says that the sperm that created his embryo was lacking in something and the egg was acting in opposition of it. In other words, its like he's saying that his existence was a mistake and he doesn't deserve to be alive. This thought also scared me because Tyler is seriously thinking about killing himself. After this quote he thinks of many strategies he could use to kill himself and it sounds like he's going to do it. I was just hoping that he would stick it out and wait for things to get better before he takes the easy way out by killing himself.
Tyler woke up one Friday afternoon and looked himself in the mirror, thinking of how his life is going downhill and how he doesn't deserve to live. He begins thinking of different ways to end his life, and decides to go to the school and jump at the bottom of the pool. But once he gets there he talks himself out of it because he doesn't want the little children to see him and be terrified for the rest of their lives at what they saw. Tyler then goes back home and decides that instead he's just going to take his father's money and run away. However, Hannah finds a letter Tyler wrote stating that he was going to run away because he didn't want to go to boarding school, and she said not to act stupid. Before she leaves he says that he won't run away, but lies and takes his father's money. Before he leaves, he grabs his grandfather's sweater out of his father's drawer, and he also holds his father's pistol in his hand. He holds it, considering whether he should shoot or not. Instead he takes the gun and the box of bullets before he leaves the room and grabs his baseball bat out the closet. He gets some baseballs pitched to him and then goes to the lake with Yoda to toss the bullets into the lake, and takes apart the gun and leaves it in his bag. The next day he goes to school telling Chip to beat him up and that he's a punk. The police come to Tyler's home later that day telling him that they've found the kid who was reponsible for the pictures of Bethany and that he will not be punished for that. Later on in the day, however, Tyler's father comes home blaming Tyler for him losing his job, since Mr. Milbury is his boss and also Chip's father.Tyler gets the bat and goes downstairs smashing everything with it and telling his father about how he was going to kill himself or run away. His father asks him why he didn't do either, and Tyler said because his father has already killed him. Tyler spends the rest of the night at Yoda's house and the next night he sees his father sitting outside of their house. He said to Tyler that he couldn't sleep and that he would want Tyler to come back and stay with them. Tyler stays and plays his video game and tries to act wisely while he's playing it. This is how the story ends.
Quote:
"You have screwed up everything. You have a 0.00 GPA in Life. You are a useless f***, a waste of carbon molecules. You are the spawn of a defective sperm and a reluctant egg. You do not deserve to live" (Anderson 190).
Reaction:
Tyler was having this thought one Friday afternoon when he was looking at himself in the mirror. I like how the author used the metaphor of a GPA to describe Tyler's life. He said he has a 0.00 GPA in life, so his life is pretty much going downhill for him, getting worse and worse. I also like how he described his waste of existence as being a waste of carbon molecules. He also stresses the fact that he doesn't deserve to live when he says that the sperm that created his embryo was lacking in something and the egg was acting in opposition of it. In other words, its like he's saying that his existence was a mistake and he doesn't deserve to be alive. This thought also scared me because Tyler is seriously thinking about killing himself. After this quote he thinks of many strategies he could use to kill himself and it sounds like he's going to do it. I was just hoping that he would stick it out and wait for things to get better before he takes the easy way out by killing himself.
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