R D Laing, a psychiatrist, began to question whether or not he and his colleagues were deceiving and being deceived in respect to their supposed abilities to correctly interpret and judge the minds of others. He began to speak out against the industry, and really upset a lot of people.
So one day in the early 70s David Rosenhan attended one of his lectures and wanted to put his theories to the test. So he devised a plan. He contacted several friends he had known for years, none of which had any history of what the industry labeled 'deficits'. He told them all they were to go to certain asylums and hospitals and ask to speak to the practitioner on duty and ask to be interviewed / assessed.
When they got there, they were to be totally 'themselves', and answer all questions honestly--- except one thing. They were to tell the interviewer that occasionally, they heard the word 'thud' in their head. Not the sound, but a voice saying 'thud'.
They were all forcibly committed.
Rosenhan expected that all of them (including himself) would be locked up for some short duration of time... he had no idea they would be in there for months.... it became apparent to them after awhile that it was going to be impossible to convince the staff that they were 'sane' or that they really did this as an experiment. It became quickly apparently that the only way to get out of the institution was to falsely concede 'You are right. We are crazy. But thanks to your medication and services, we are getting better'.
When they finally got out, Rosenhan published a paper on it that started a firestorm in the psychiatric industry. Psychologists were beyond insulted, psychoanalysts felt their reputation and livelihood were on the lines, so the institution made a public challenge to Rosenhan- send us more fakes, and we will find them.
Rosenhan agreed.
After something like 2 or 3 months, the institution proudly announced they had found 70+ "fakes" that Rosenhan had sent and released them.
Rosenhan then admitted he had sent noone.
So one day in the early 70s David Rosenhan attended one of his lectures and wanted to put his theories to the test. So he devised a plan. He contacted several friends he had known for years, none of which had any history of what the industry labeled 'deficits'. He told them all they were to go to certain asylums and hospitals and ask to speak to the practitioner on duty and ask to be interviewed / assessed.
When they got there, they were to be totally 'themselves', and answer all questions honestly--- except one thing. They were to tell the interviewer that occasionally, they heard the word 'thud' in their head. Not the sound, but a voice saying 'thud'.
They were all forcibly committed.
Rosenhan expected that all of them (including himself) would be locked up for some short duration of time... he had no idea they would be in there for months.... it became apparent to them after awhile that it was going to be impossible to convince the staff that they were 'sane' or that they really did this as an experiment. It became quickly apparently that the only way to get out of the institution was to falsely concede 'You are right. We are crazy. But thanks to your medication and services, we are getting better'.
When they finally got out, Rosenhan published a paper on it that started a firestorm in the psychiatric industry. Psychologists were beyond insulted, psychoanalysts felt their reputation and livelihood were on the lines, so the institution made a public challenge to Rosenhan- send us more fakes, and we will find them.
Rosenhan agreed.
After something like 2 or 3 months, the institution proudly announced they had found 70+ "fakes" that Rosenhan had sent and released them.
Rosenhan then admitted he had sent noone.
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