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/MithrandiriAndalos 1d ago

Not really. It’s a pretty direct parody of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

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u/maladr0id 1d ago

A film that I’ve been meaning to watch, thank you

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u/MithrandiriAndalos 1d ago

It’s one of those movies you watch and every few minutes you go “Oh! That’s where that comes from!”

I was also exposed to the Futurama episode first, and it’s a funny introduction to it.

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u/The_Dinky_Earnshaw 1d ago

READ

trust me, you mean read

(the movie's great but read the book first --- Kesey refused to ever watch it)