The Bell Jar and early mental health representation

 In The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, we see an early representation of mental health institutions, and how bad they were compared to now. If we look at mental health institutions now, we don't typically see electroshock therapy being used, more things are focused on bettering the person instead of electrocuting them until they conform to society's standards. The use of lobotomization is also a much more frowned upon practice, as they were done very unprofessionally in their early days, where they were named icepick lobotomies, super ineffective and unsafe, and especially unsanitary procedures that would be a tool, most commonly an icepick, being placed through a patient's eye and going through to the brain, and disconnecting certain nerve endings. No anesthesia was used in these procedures either, and we see a character in the novel who has undergone a lobotomy and it completely changes a person's behaviors and mannerisms. I believe if this book took place in more modern times, Esther would have gotten the help she needed sooner and would have been able to continue her college education while receiving the help she needed. 

Comments

  1. NateMarch 10, 2023 at 5:19 PM

    It was very interesting to see the mental health practices of this time and compare it too todays. I think if Esther was in todays state of mental health knowledge, awareness, and treatment she would've had possible a greater recovery without having to do shock therapy.

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  2. Luke YouMarch 10, 2023 at 7:40 PM

    It's crazy that these procedures were done without the use of anesthesia back then. We also have things like proper talk therapy these days as well, which is sort of like what Dr. Nolan did for Esther. On the other hand, Dr. Gordon didn't try to connect with Esther at all and treated her as though she were less than human.

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  3. TaehanMarch 11, 2023 at 2:46 PM

    I also thought that some of the treatments presented in the Bell Jar were very interesting. When I first heard in the book that mental health issues were treated with shock therapy I was very surprised. I think the difference with modern age treatment is that many treatments in the book try to counter mental issues with physical treatments. Although this does still happen in modern treatment, I think our development with talking therapy and other treatments is what sets our treatment apart.

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  4. AnnieMarch 16, 2023 at 11:43 AM

    Wow! I was unaware of a lot of the practices used in mental institutions. I also agree that if Esther was living in the modern ear, she probably could have gotten better help, especially initially. Considering how unregulated these practices seem to be, it seems rather incredible that the person who had the lobotomy had it work. It makes me wonder how many actually successful recoveries Wymark had considering it is supposed to be a more prestigious and expensive institution.

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