The introduction tells of a psychologist, David Rosenhan, who organized a group of twleve perfectly sane individuals, most of them psychologists themselves, to infiltrate various mental hospitals. They all complained upon request for admission of hearing voices, a common symptom of schizophrenia. Despite this being the only symptom they displayed or complained of, despite the fact that besides hearing the "voices," all were fully functional individuals, despite the fact there was no past history of mental disease, all twelve were quickly admitted into their respective mental hospitals. After admission, none of the experimenters complained of hearing voices again. In fact, the only "peculiar" behavior any of them exhibited was writing down daily notes of their experience. It took the pseudo-patients an average of 19 days to convince the hospital staff to release them, the longest taking two months.
Rosenhan noted two important facts from his experiment. Firstly, none of the professional staff at the mental hospital realized that any of the patients were perfectly sane. Even upon leaving the hospital, the pseudo-patients were not labeled as normal, but as having schizophrenia "in recession". Secondly, although none of the staff realized the frauds, the other "insane" patients did. Many of the experimenters were approached by the other patients and asked if they were undercover reporters, since, clearly, they were sane. As Rosenhan comments in his reflection on the study, "The fact that the patients often recognized normality when staff did not raises important questions."
Rosenhan's study took place in 1973, about a decade or so after One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was written. Perhaps he read Kesey's book and was inspired by McMurphy's insistence that the other patients in the ward were "'not any crazier than the average asshole on the street" (65). What if they really aren't, and the Big Nurse just refuses to accept it? How does one prove their own sanity?
Mariel, what an interesting post! It really speaks to the flawed way in which society often handles those with mental illness. There is a definite stigma attached to mental illness, so much so that apparently a person who displays no symptoms and whose diagnosis was questionable in the first place cannot escape the label of "schizophrenic." It is also rather ironic that the "insane" seemed to have the most common sense in this situation.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting study, Mariel! Your post proves the notion that AP English follows us everywhere we go. I feel Kesey thinks the outside world is just as insane as the mental patients on the inside. This study shows that not even "trained professionals" could tell the difference between a real schizophrenic and a fake. I also find it astonishing that this hospital would send a schizophrenic home after being in the hospital for only 19 days. I would expect a much longer stay to ensure the patient's mental stability.
ReplyDeleteMariel, as a fellow Psychology student, I must admit that I too have been intrigued by possible connections between the legendary Chapter 12 and our latest novel. I also was impressed that you read the introduction to the chapter (I am an "efficient" reader). As for Resenhan's study, I find it fascinating. Countless explanations exist for the behavior of the mental institutions, though - it may not be society's perceptions that cause this. Perhaps these institutions merely want to err on the side of caution, or want to make more money by keeping the patients for as long as possible.
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