It is much easier to become a patient of a psychiatric clinic than it seems at first glance. At the same time, it is very difficult to prove your sanity and mental health. Don't believe me? Then we bring to your attention a couple of interesting stories.
Enterprising driver
It happened in 1997 in Zimbabwe. The bus driver was carrying 20 psychiatric patients, and on the way between Harare and Bulawayo, he decided to make a short stop. While the man was quenching his thirst in one of the local eateries, his charges were able to get out of the bus and disappeared into the jungle.
The driver discovered the loss and grabbed his head. At the very least, he was in for a trial with the hospital management. In the worst case, they could face imprisonment. However, the guy was not taken aback. Probably a couple of beers in the cafe stimulated his brain activity.
The man just drove up to the nearest stop and loaded 20 passengers - according to the number of escaped psychos. After that, he just took the unsuspecting people to the mental hospital. The guy told the staff that there was an unusual contingent in the cabin. Separately, I noticed that patients make up all sorts of fables, and are sure that they are absolutely normal.
The truth was revealed only after 3 days, when the attending physicians noticed that all new patients had the same hallucinations. The fate of the escaped psychos remained unknown.
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Will it be possible to prove that you are not crazy if you end up in a hospital?
That is unlikely. Back in 1970, David Rosenhan, a professor at Stanford University, conducted an unusual experiment. He invited to participate in the experiment 8 people, mentally normal, and leading an ordinary life. The subjects included psychologists, graduate students, artists and housewives.
These people were sent to a psychiatrist to whom they talked about their lives. The story was completely true, but all the subjects added one fictional detail to it - voices that supposedly sounded in their heads.
When the people were admitted to the clinic, they told the doctors that they were completely healthy and did not hear any voices. Do you think they were released? No matter how it is! The participants in the experiment spent 7-52 days in the walls of a psychiatric hospital. After that, they were released with the following diagnoses:
- Schizophrenia - to seven participants;
- Manic-depressive psychosis - to one "lucky".
The condition in the discharge epicrisis was noted as improved, according to the doctors, all "patients" were in remission.
The results went public, and a terrible scandal erupted. The luminaries of psychiatry argued that such gross mistakes simply did not have the right to exist. Professor Roschen fought back the wave of indignation, noting that he would gladly repeat his experience to prove his own case.
During the year, the staff of all psychiatric clinics carefully screened incoming patients, hoping to identify the pseudo-patients sent by the professor. As a result, out of 200 patients, 40 were sent home. They were counted as participants in the experiment. The paradox is that David Rosenhan no longer repeated his experience, therefore, he did not send anyone to hospitals.