FREE ESSAY ON THE QUIET ROOM

THE QUIET ROOM

1. Schizophrenia is a mental illness, characterized by a range of symptoms. Most common
symptoms include delusions and hallucinations. Additional symptoms of schizophrenia found
in humans include: bizarre behavior, loss of contact with reality, disorganized thinking
and speaking, decreased emotional expressiveness, social withdrawal and memory loss. When
a person smiles at another person, the usual response is to smile back. When a
schizophrenic person sees one's smile, he/she wonders, "Why are they laughing at me?"
Schizophrenics think that everyone is against them, causing everything to be rarely
funny. Unlike other mental illnesses, schizophrenia has a fading effect on the person's
life. They soon lose the ability to distinguish the difference between real and unreal
experiences, also called delusions. Lori recalling how she killed her dog, beating it to
death, is an example of delusion. It actually happened in her head, and only in her head.
The illness takes over and shuts them down until they cannot operate, causing a both a
high number of suicides and attempted suicides. People with schizophrenia usually exhibit
short attention spans and abstract thinking. Also, they are more likely to abuse and/or
become dependent on drugs and alcohol. To describe the suffers of schizophrenia, common
terms like "mad' and "insane" are used by the outside world 
Erikson formulated many different, but sequential stages in human development. The first
is the "trust versus mistrust" stage. This occurs in the first year of child's life, with
the infant gaining a sense of trust. Responsive and sensitive caregivers meet their basic
needs. Lori was treated well by her parents as an infant. She also developed within the
following stages successfully. Stage two is "autonomy versus shame & doubt", which occurs
in the second year of infancy. Infants start to find that they can complete small without
the caregiver's assistance. This stage takes place during early childhood between the
ages of three and five. Infants are likely to gain a sense of shame and doubt, resulting
from encounters with the social world and new responsibilities. Stage four, is the
"industry versus inferiority". Children go through this stage between the ages of six
years old until reaching puberty. The child is enthusiastic during this time, and focuses
their energy towards learning, but problems can happen. Some children can feel
incompetent and non-productive. Lori developed through this stage successfully by
participating in activities and even being the class clown. Stage five is called
"identity versus identity confusion". Starting at adolescence (ages 10 to 20), everyone
is faced with finding the "true self" and direction for the future. This is where Lori
begins to feel different. Lori began to hear voices and felt different from other people.
She kept it hidden for a long time. She went to college and tried to push aside the
voices in her head. This brings us to the sixth stage, "intimacy versus isolation",
occurring in early adulthood. We are faced with intimate relationships with others.
Lori's voices affected her ability during this stage of her life. She often dated, but
had to stop because of her schizophrenic outbreaks. Driving Lori to attempt suicide, and
driving her roommate to fear Lori. Lori's problems began to snowball. The seventh and is
"generatively versus stagnation", occurring between the ages of 40 and 50, the average
age when raising children. This final stage is where we find Lori in today.
3. Doctors used a number of different treatments in an attempt to treat Lori. The doctors
used medication, shock therapy treatment, cold-wet-packing, and the quiet room to try to
help Lori and her illness. Medication was used both in the beginning and end of her
treatment. The drugs used, are called anti-psychotic drugs, and they include:
haloperidol, risperidone, olanzapine, and thioridazine. Anti-psychotic drugs are used to
control the hallucinations and delusions. Lori's doctors believed drugs were the right
choice, but her mom did not agree with it, because of the side affects that the drugs
have. When Lori went to the hospital, she received drugs and spent her time walking
around in a daze. Specific effects include: dry mouth, blurred vision, dizziness and
drowsiness. ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) can often relieve severe depression in
people who fail to respond to antidepressant medication and psychotherapy. A low-voltage
electric current is passed through the brain for one or two second to produce a
controlled seizure. Six to ten ECT treatments are given to patients over several weeks.
ECT remains controversial because it can cause disorientation and memory loss.
Nevertheless, research has found it highly effective in alleviating ever depression. Lori
did not like the shock treatment because it took her memories away and killed brain
cells. Lori described the experience, "It was awful. They had taken away big chunks or my
life" (94). She did not find this to be an effective method in her treatment. Next,
doctors tried a method called cold-wet-packing (CWP for reference) on Lori. The CWP
concept is that the body uses do much energy to keep warm, that the patient would calm
down and relax towards sleep. Lori was injected with sodium amytal to calm her, wrapped
her securely in sheets that had been soaking in ice water. She was wrapped tight like a
mummy, covering her whole body minus her feet, neck and head. She was left like this for
2 hours. This was one of the more effective treatments that Lori went through. Lastly,
Lori was kept in the quiet room. This was a totally empty room except for a bed. The
quiet room and CWP were used to calm her down and relax, and medication was used to
control her schizophrenia. These drugs help to reduce symptoms in 80 to 90 percent of
schizophrenics, but have a potentially fatal side effect. This drug, named clozapine, can
cause a fatal blood disease, requiring users to have blood tests taken weekly. This drug
has been effective with controlling Lori's schizophrenia.
In the treatment of mental illnesses, I believe that medications, while should not be
only option, can be used if it is the best option. Also, the pros and cons of the drug
must be observed. Are there side effects to the drugs? As long as a drug is effective,
and does not inhibit the mental well being of the patient, I support the use of
medication. If at all possible, conventional, non-medicinal treatments should be tried
first (cold-wet-packing, etc...). If a majority of the population is worried about side
effects, the solution is not to stop using the drugs, thus taking it away from patients
who excel with it. Rather, newer drugs should be researched and put into use for old,
harmful ones.
4. I really did not understand, or appreciate mental illness and the hard life such
people must face. In high school they were known as the sub-losers, and the freaks. I
have a relative Mike who is a schizophrenic, and obviously when I was little, I could not
understand his actions. He was convinced he was under the surveillance of the FBI, and
displayed erratic behavior. Mike lived across from my father's hardware store, and he
would buy massive amounts of random items. He once ordered 20 sheets of glass, and they
just sat in his front lawn for years. I can remember making many jokes at his expense.
But they have no control over the illness, so should they be made fun of? This book also
makes you think about taking things for granted. Lori had everything in her life until
the day the illness started to set in. This could happen to anyone at anytime. I feel
that his book has made me open minded, and has enabled me to understand more people.
6. At first, Lori's family as in denial of her illness. Even a psychologist father let it
slip. Understanding how the perfect girl, who went so very bad, was impossible. She was
the All American girl, who was living an active, happy life. Her father felt ashamed that
his child was sick, and demanded his wife tell no one could find out about her condition.
This illness seemed to challenge his ability to raise a child. Another part of his
concern was how the illness would effect her maturation into an adult. He attempted to
protect her future, by hiding the problems from the public. Lori's mom unwillingly agreed
with her husband's decision. The lives of her two brothers were also affected. Steve was
scared to bring people to the house, and the younger brother was jealous of all the
attention she got from her parents. Everyone in this family had to deal with it in some
way, because the problems were not going away.
7. Today, Lori is living well. Although she had worries at first, she is taking the
medication called clozapine. She really had no choice, as it was her last hope. In New
York, she lives in an apartment that she calls, "a beautiful place". Gone are the white
walls of the quiet room. Lori furnishes her place with whatever she likes. Getting her
life back in order, Lori has lost all the weight she gained and is back down to 118
pounds. Although taking 26 pills a day seems ridiculous, the voices in her head have
retreated. Only once in a while, she hears the voices, but takes trips on the New York
subway to relax. Reconnecting with the outside world, and finding a new network of
friends is a goal she is striving to reach. Meeting with Dr. Dollar only twice a week
now, Lori has come to terms with herself. She has accepted who she is.