Shutter Island occurs in the mid-1950’s at Shutter Island. Shutter Island is host to Ashecliffe, a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Shutter Island’s main character is named Andrew Laeddis, and is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Andrew Laeddis was a federal marshal before he was admitted to Ashecliffe. He was revealed to have become a workaholic and an alcoholic due to a severe trauma. I believe that he was committing most of his time to his work and alcohol, and very little time with his wife and children in order to avoid thinking about his actions during the Dachau liberation. Andrew was a soldier who participated in the liberation of Dachau, the first concentration camp, in 1945.
The whole plot of the movie revolves around Andrew’s …show more content…
As stated earlier, the movie takes place in the mid-1950’s. However, Andrew was a young man in the mid 1940’s. I can assume that his personality was fairly consistent by the mid-1950’s. Andrew Laeddis had a history that involved severe trauma, alcohol abuse, and a previous position of power. All of these could lead to a degradation of mental state following a severe enough stressor. The only thing I disliked was that Andrew regressed back into Teddy Daniels. While I admit that a regression into a protective state to protect the mind can happen, and often does, I need more background information on if there were any triggers that would have prompted the regression. It was revealed that Andrew was being kept in Ward C, which was an old Civil War Fort. There were very little possible stressors shown, except for the …show more content…
Deinstitutionalization was on the rise, as well as outpatient treatment facilities. Psychopharmacotherapy was on the rise with the development of antipsychotic drugs, especially Chlorpromazine (Thorazine). However, with the rapid introduction and push for antipsychotics, many patients were simply given a pill and told to continue on, even though the drugs were simply meant to be an addition to therapy. As Dr. Cawley said, “Give them a pill, put them in a corner, and it all goes away (Shutter Island, 2010).” The negative stigma was still present, and patients were often forced out into disadvantageous positions. Many found themselves unwittingly condemned to life in sweatshop-like factories.
Forms of therapy that we now consider barbaric, was then considered to simply be drastic. Doctors would put patients into insulin-induced comas, perform transorbital lobotomies, or infect the patients with malaria. All of these were performed in high numbers in the 1930’s. Dr. Cawley again, “What should be a last resort has now become a first response (Shutter Island,
The whole plot of the movie revolves around Andrew’s …show more content…
As stated earlier, the movie takes place in the mid-1950’s. However, Andrew was a young man in the mid 1940’s. I can assume that his personality was fairly consistent by the mid-1950’s. Andrew Laeddis had a history that involved severe trauma, alcohol abuse, and a previous position of power. All of these could lead to a degradation of mental state following a severe enough stressor. The only thing I disliked was that Andrew regressed back into Teddy Daniels. While I admit that a regression into a protective state to protect the mind can happen, and often does, I need more background information on if there were any triggers that would have prompted the regression. It was revealed that Andrew was being kept in Ward C, which was an old Civil War Fort. There were very little possible stressors shown, except for the …show more content…
Deinstitutionalization was on the rise, as well as outpatient treatment facilities. Psychopharmacotherapy was on the rise with the development of antipsychotic drugs, especially Chlorpromazine (Thorazine). However, with the rapid introduction and push for antipsychotics, many patients were simply given a pill and told to continue on, even though the drugs were simply meant to be an addition to therapy. As Dr. Cawley said, “Give them a pill, put them in a corner, and it all goes away (Shutter Island, 2010).” The negative stigma was still present, and patients were often forced out into disadvantageous positions. Many found themselves unwittingly condemned to life in sweatshop-like factories.
Forms of therapy that we now consider barbaric, was then considered to simply be drastic. Doctors would put patients into insulin-induced comas, perform transorbital lobotomies, or infect the patients with malaria. All of these were performed in high numbers in the 1930’s. Dr. Cawley again, “What should be a last resort has now become a first response (Shutter Island,