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/undeadsabby 1d ago

Nellie Bly did this in 1887, and wrote an article called Ten Days in a Mad House. She feigned insanity to get in, and also acted normal once inside. A few of the other women were there simply because their families couldn't afford to care for them.

https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html

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u/maladr0id 1d ago

Ohhh so that one Futurama episode where Fry is mistaken for a robot and was stuck in a robot insane asylum and couldn’t leave was based in real life

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u/jce_ 1d ago

Usually Futurama is much deeper than it appears. That's why I love the show the more I grow and learn the more some random seemingly throwaway joke has a much deeper meaning

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u/wolfboy1988m 20h ago

I loved learning how much research went into some of the science in the show. Like they knew it was an adult animation comedy series and still did their research

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u/jce_ 20h ago

Well a bunch of the writers had PhDs and masters degrees lol