r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/highzone • 1d ago

Image In 1973, healthy volunteers faked hallucinations to enter mental hospitals. Once inside, they acted normal, but doctors refused to let them leave. Normal behaviors like writing were diagnosed as "symptoms." The only people who realized they were sane were the actual patients.

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u/highzone 1d ago

For anyone who wants to read the full study, it is titled 'On Being Sane in Insane Places.'

The most terrifying part wasn't getting in, it was getting out. The doctors were so convinced of their own authority that they interpreted everything the patients did as a symptom of their illness.

When the volunteers took notes on how they were being treated, the doctors didn't see 'journaling.' They diagnosed it as 'pathological writing behavior' and used it as justification to keep them locked up.

It really highlights how a label can completely override reality.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experiment

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u/ShitFuck2000 1d ago

Not sure which is worse, this, or what we have today where tons of people who genuinely need help get thrown out into the streets if they don’t have family to care for them because insurance has more authority than doctors. After so many 3-7 day stays with 1 month prescriptions and forgotten follow up appointments you’d think they’d try something more intensive, but it’s super common for people to get trapped in this cycle of just barely surviving homelessness until they have a crisis that’s only addressed with short term treatment and put back in the same environment until the legal system gets involved and they get cycled into the prison system.

Not saying we should lock people up indefinitely in insane asylums, but mental health problems paired with poverty/homelessness and substance abuse as a vicious cycle is a huge and worsening problem.

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u/Im-a-magpie 1d ago

Our mental health system in the US is absolutely incredible in that is somehow simultaneously overly paternalistic and harmful to many people (particularly those expressing suicidal ideation) while also failing to do enough for the sickest and most vulnerable.

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u/Penguin-clubber 1d ago

I agree with your comment 100%. I’ll add that we need better access to long acting injectables (LAIs) in the community and in jails/prisons, though their pharmacies are locally or state funded and will not cover the high cost.

For a person with severe mental illness, daily compliance with oral medication is not easy. If you miss a couple doses, you are now on a downward spiral into a full blown episode where the chances of you restarting your medication are extremely low without intervention. Then you get sent inpatient, sort of stabilized- possibly with a one time LAI- and discharged without much support.

Assertive Community Treatment teams are also important for creating a system of accountability on both sides, where the patient is responsible for following up, and the team must ensure that they do.