One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a famous psychological comedy film that revolves around the behavioral traits of Randle McMurphy, the main character. Initially imprisoned due to the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl, McMurphy decided to be transferred to a mental health hospital to escape hard labor in prison (Zaentz & Douglas, 1975 00:25:45). Unfortunately, he realized that nurse Ratched is more constricting because all her patients must go on electroconvulsive therapy to calm them down. However, since McMurphy wanted freedom, he planned escape accomplishments with other ward patients, which soon affected the peaceful environment of the hospital.
McMurphy can be mainly characterized as sexually abusive, dirty, loud, and confident, based on the film. He is always the mastermind of every bad scene happening in the ward of mental health patients. In the film, his loud and free or sarcastic laughter disturbs the peace of other patients, especially those who try to be calm to suppress their emotions. He is a stubborn and immoral influencer, considering that he made other patients active and instilled the idea of escaping into their minds (Zaentz & Douglas, 1975). Lastly, McMurphy is confident because he is the only patient who gives nurses headaches. For instance, in the middle of the film, he incited all patients to go fishing in the Pacific Ocean and inspired them to discover their life abilities.
McMurphy has an antisocial personality disorder. This disorder always makes one appear manipulative and one who can violate the right of others without feeling any sense of remorse (Gibbon et al., 2020). This statement infers that the actions of people having ASPD must always cause chaos and problems to other people around them. Such patients are fond of causing harm to others without considering how they would feel. For example, McMurphy finds pleasure in disturbing the peaceful lives of others and would love it more when others join him in making people feel miserable. Besides, in the movie, he was detained for raping a 15-year-old girl, and he never felt responsible for his actions. In addition, he always causes trouble in the ward of patients with mental disabilities and encourages them to escape without caring about the dangers he is exposing them to.
Unable to control waves of anger, difficulty sustaining a long-term relationship, depressed mood, fatigue, worthless sensation, and loss of pleasure in all activities are the symptoms that are missing in the traits of McMurphy. These are the significant DSM-qualifying signs and symptoms of antisocial personality disorder (Pai, Suris & North, 2017). In the film, McMurphy is not portrayed as a person who cannot control his fits of anger. He is just a troublemaker who enjoys every scene of people suffering from his actions. He does not show any depression because he rarely feels responsible for his actions. For instance, after manipulating Chief to escape with him, McMurphy sneaked Candy and Rose into the patient’s ward and bottles of alcohol to throw a goodbye party before escaping. His actions led to the death of Billy, who committed suicide after being involved in a sex scandal with Candy. Again, he never felt sorry for this since his escaping plan continued, even after seeing that his plans cost someone’s life.
Psychotherapy should be the primary treatment for antisocial personality disorder. This is mainly talking therapy, which can help reduce personal behaviors like physical disturbance, carelessness, and arrogance (Thylstrup & Hesse, 2016). For example, when McMurphy is introduced to a psychotherapy session, he might learn about his condition, thoughts, moods, and general behaviors. This can be the beginning of his change, bearing in mind that change starts with realizing the problem.
References
Gibbon, S., Khalifa, N. R., Cheung, N. H., Völlm, B. A., & McCarthy, L. (2020). Psychological interventions for antisocial personality disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (9). Web.
Zaentz s. & Douglas M. (1975). One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Pai, A., Suris, A. M., & North, C. S. (2017). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the DSM-5: Controversy, change, and conceptual considerations. Behavioral Sciences, 7(1), 7. Web.
Thylstrup, B., & Hesse, M. (2016). Impulsive lifestyle counseling to prevent dropout from treatment for substance use disorders in people with antisocial personality disorder: A randomized study. Addictive Behaviors, 57, 48-54. Web.