Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, is an LSD user. He believes it exposes the truth in society. He believes it shows what is really out there and who you really are. The role that McMurphy played to the patients in the psychiatric ward and the role that LSD played in Kesey's life are of self-discovery and self-actualization.
             McMurphy helped all the patients in the ward discover who they were and helped them realize their full potential. I think he helped them much more than pills, needles, and electroshock therapy could, because he gave them each what they needed which was a taste of life outside the ward. All the patients developed more confidence due to McMurphy. Before the fishing trip none of the men ever laughed, most of them were quiet and kept to themselves, none of them were very confident and they felt quite powerless, but throughout the fishing trip this slowly begins to change. At the gas station the men follow McMurphy's idea by telling the gas station attendants that they're a bunch of loonies from the mental hospital and the men at the gas station start to fear them. Bromden says, "Never before did I realize that mental illness could have the same aspect as power". The men start to have a feeling of power. When they start fishing the patients start to loosen up and they even begin to laugh. As the trip continues each man is changed inside. Bromden says, "The way you see the change in a person you've been away from for a long time, where somebody who sees him every day, day in, day out, wouldn't notice because the change is gradual" They gain confidence and reassurance of who they really are.
             Much like McMurphy helped the patients expose who they really were, LSD did the same thing to Kesey. He believes that discovering who you really can be a frightening experience. In an interview with Robert Faggen, Kesey points out that "you can have the shit scared out of you with LSD b
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