QAny recommendations for other movies like 'The Snake Pit'?
ATwo other movies set in the mid-20th century, when mental hospitals were still considered 'snake pits' and when psychoanalysis, as opposed to ECT and psychosurgery, was just emerging as a viable treatment, include Shutter Island (2010) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
QHow much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
AFor detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for The Snake Pit can be found here.
QDid the electroshock treatments depicted in this film really work or were they just primitive treatments a step up from real snake pits?
AAs barbaric as it may seem, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) does work, particularly in cases of severe depression. ECT works by stimulating the brain, releasing the same types of neurotransmitters that are released when a patient takes antidepressant medication. ECT is still used nowadays, usually on patients who don't respond to medication or who need immediate treatment. However, patients are now anesthetized and given drugs that prevent them from undergoing convulsions. ECT is a far less barbaric and frightening procedure than it was in the 1940s and 50s.
Share this