In the 1960s Ken Kesey, a student at the University of Oregon and Stanford University, became interested in alternative medicine and mental health after participating in a study on the US Army's psychedelic drugs. Kesey continues to work for this same institution. For him it was important to take notes on the people in this department, even draw them! Kesey had a need to know them, even understand their history and this is precisely what led him to his current perspective on society and the conformity he expects from those in it. It was in this spirit that he wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and set a brilliant example of counterculture that still stands today as a strong critique of how the mental health professions can become so corrupt and out of control. A little context to Kesey's beliefs, it is important to understand the institutionalized mental health system that was so prevalent in the 1960s. In these early years of the mental health profession, patients were often treated in large wards. Here, however, it was not just about patients: others who were not “normal” were simply grouped together for mass treatment. The problem here was that those who needed confinement, not just treatment, were thrown in with these individuals (like Mcmurphy) who ended up in the wards for reasons other than actual disorder or dysfunction. Insulin shock therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, cold/hot baths, lobotomies, and many other unethical treatments with little to no empirical support for their effectiveness were prevalent and used with little to no remorse. This has led to a huge uproar from the human rights community. Luckily many of these practices went out of fashion when compassionate care began… half of the article… this may also play a role in this inferiority complex. Overall I think this patient-doctor role reversal that Kesey strategically inserted into this plot has great value in terms of social criticism. The disorders of many patients were depicted as accurately as Bromden's paranoid schizophrenia or Nurse Ratched's psychopathy, and added to the authenticity of the environment Kesey created to develop his critique of social conformity. The only disorder that I believe has been incorrectly displayed would be Mcmurphy's "psychopathy" as it does not appear to meet any of the criteria of a person suffering from antisocial personality disorder. In conclusion, this book has great literary value in the context of authentic empathic care and patient treatment in the 20th century. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the topic.