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Girl interrupted Essay

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Rory Boyan Writing 1 04/19/02

Considering all the treatment methods used at Mclean Hospital, harsh physical treatments were rarely productive. Methods such as seclusion, ice-baths, Electro-shock therapy, and even the Hospitals atmosphere itself can make one wonder how anyone came out of there better than they went in. It seems odd that people teetering on the edge of sanity were subjected to such horrible treatments. Although such treatments sometimes worked, it in no way outweighs the horrible side …show more content…

In essence, what happens is that the individual is dazed, confused, and disoriented, and therefore cannot remember or appreciate current problems. The shocks are then continued for a few weeks (sometimes several times a day) to make the procedure 'take,' that is, to damage the brain sufficiently so that the individual will not remember, at least for several months, the problems that led to his being shocked in the first place. The greater the brain damage, the more likely that certain memories and abilities will never return. Thus memory loss and confusion secondary to brain injury are not side effects of electroshock; they are the means by which families (perhaps unwittingly) and psychiatrists sometimes choose to deal with troubled and troublesome persons”

The side effects are quite extreme. The treatments could totally destroy certain parts of the brain, which obviously would not help, but would take away any sanity one still had. People would lose their memory, lose their personality, and lose any hope of freedom they might have had. If you destroy the mind of an insane person who is in the hospital because they are a danger to society and themselves, what do they have to look forward to?
The last of the treatments is being in the hospital itself. Aside from the Harsh Physical treatments, all one would have is hospital life. Just imagine being told that people would help, and all they

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