The Snake Pit Essay Research Paper The

The Snake Pit Essay, Research Paper

The Snake Pit

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Abstract

Virginia Cunningham, thirty-ish, white female, married and suffering from schizophrenia was placed in a psychiatric hospital after an ongoing battle with mental illness. While in the psychiatric hospital Virginia received shock treatment, which was to no avail in achieving a cure, however her psychotherapy with Dr. Kik eventually rendered a cure.

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The Snake Pit

Severe mental illness almost always alters a person’s life dramatically. People with severe mental illnesses experience disturbing symptoms that can make it difficult to hold a job, go to school, relate to others, or cope with ordinary life demands. Some individuals require hospitalization because they become unable to care for themselves or because they are at risk of committing suicide.

The symptoms of mental illness can be very distressing. People who develop schizophrenia may hear voices inside their head that say nasty things about them or command them to act in strange or unpredictable ways. Or they may be paralyzed by paranoia—the deep conviction that everyone, including their closest family members, wants to injure or destroy them. People with major depression may feel that nothing brings pleasure and that life is so dreary and unhappy that it is better to be dead. People with schizophrenia may also suffer from panic disorder, thus experiencing heart palpitations, rapid breathing, and anxiety so extreme that they may not be able to leave home.

Other mental illnesses, while not always debilitating, create certain problems in living. People with personality disorders may experience loneliness and isolation because their personality style interferes with social relations. With appropriate treatment, most people can recover from

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mental illness and return to normal life. Even those with persistent, long-term mental illnesses can usually learn to manage their symptoms and live productive lives.