Similarities Between Death Of A Salesman And One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Today, mental health is a well-respected and discussed topic. However, this has not always been the case. Wrongful diagnoses and a lack of understanding have long caused much to be dismissed from traditional practices. In Arthur Miller’s work Death of a Salesman, the protagonist, Willy Loman, battles his undiagnosed mental condition throughout the story. Similarly, R. P. McMurphy from Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest adamantly denies his possible mental condition and never seems to fully grasp his reasoning for being placed in the psychiatric ward. Both men could have benefited from receiving proper care for their respective conditions; something that would’ve been incredibly advantageous to those affected by their actions.

Bipolar

The relationship between hallucinations and depression, anxiety, suicidality, schizotypy, and loneliness in BPD has been discovered” (Minarikova). Comparatively, most of Loman’s hallucinations are full-body reminiscences, evident in the elaborate conversations with his long-deceased brother Ben or the football talks with an adolescent version of his eldest son, Biff Loman. These episodes became evident to his family, causing his sons and wife, Linda, to worry greatly about him. Living with a loved one suffering from a mental disorder is extremely taxing on a multitude of levels, especially in this instance, in a time period when mental health was not well documented or for that matter, understood. The play is set in the late 1940s, and while BPD was around, under the name “Manic Depression”, it was not officially recognized as a disorder by the DSM-III until 1980. Considering this, Willy’s family and friends likely had little to no idea how to help

Speaking to Biff, Linda brazenly explains that despite whatever Willy is going through, it is their responsibility as his family to provide support for him. While this may not come as a surprise, there are often instances where people have a much less sympathetic approach to mental illness. Sometimes leading to the individual suffering, to take matters into their own hands, instead of receiving the necessary treatment and assistance. The correlation between suicide and mental illness is not a new discovery by any means, and in terms of BDP, “Researchers estimate that between 24% and 60% of people with bipolar disorder will attempt suicide, and between 4% and 19% will successfully commit suicide “ (Alvarado Parkway Institute). 4-19% may seem trivial compared to the 84% of BPD cases that are classified as severe, but any number lost to suicide is a great one. At the end of Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman commits suicide by driving his car at high speed, thus crashing and being killed on impact. After losing his job and falling into tremendous financial debt, Willy most likely thought he did not have much else to live for. His ultimate demise could have also very easily been affected by his BPD, and maybe his suicide could be evidence of a shift from a manic to a depressive state. Another possible conclusion arises in something Willy says to his old friend Charley after being fired from his