John LeViness
Professor Floridia
ENG 102
August 2, 2020
Affecting Another’s Mental Health
Parents are the people who initially set the foundation for how a child perceives the
world. A child’s behavior is learned by what a parent says or does. This can lead to many
problems in a child’s future if a parent or influence has a bad impact on one’s behavior or mental
health. This doesn’t always relate to a parent, but anyone that has any sort of impact on one’s life
can leave a sour taste and lead to future problems with mental health and behavior. In the play,
"Equus" by Peter Schaffer, a boy named Alan Strang is suffering with mental health problems.
Alan's parents Frank and Hester can no longer control their son, so they bring him to a
psychologist, Martin Dysart, for professional help or guidance. Eventually, Alan feels like his
parents and their way of raising him are responsible for his problems and actions. In the film,
"Dead Poets Society" directed by Peter Weir, a boy named Neil goes to an Elite prep school and
becomes motivated to become an actor by the school’s new professors. His professor John
Keating is teaching a different style of poetry to his students, although other professors do not
approve as well as the student’s parents. When Neil’s father won't let his son become an actor
and tells him that he will no longer be attending that school, Neil decides to take his own life.
These two stories show how people can have a significant impact on the mental health of others.
In “Equus” the play tells the story of a psychiatrist named Martin Dysart who tries to cure
his patient, Alan, who blinded six horses by stabbing their eyes out. Throughout the play we find
out that Alan was messed up from the very start beginning. When Dysart starts meeting with
Alan, we start to understand what the reason for his terrible actions are. The first encounter Alan
has with a horse heavily impacted his future perception and thoughts on horses. On his first time
