Mental illness and normal people
What is mental illness? And what is a normal person? I believe that many people can explain this question. Generally speaking, most mental illness patients have a dysfunction in their psychological functions, which leads to abnormal psychological, emotional, and behavioral manifestations such as hallucinations, delusions, and depression. If not guided properly, they may end up harming themselves or others unconsciously. In modern times, those with milder symptoms can usually be guided by psychologists, while those with more severe conditions may be admitted to mental hospitals for further treatment. However, due to the early stage of human understanding, prevention, and treatment of mental illnesses, the field is still filled with gaps. Therefore, determining whether someone has a mental illness and assessing the recovery of mental illness have become contentious issues.
David Rosenhan
In 1973, American psychologist David Rosenhan inadvertently mentioned the relationship between “mental illness and psychology courses” to his students. Rosenhan believed that the current medical standards are unable to differentiate between what is a mental illness and what is normal. It is highly subjective, where most treatments are determined solely by doctors, which explains why patients find it hard to leave mental hospitals once admitted.
Rosenhan Experiment
To prove his point, Rosenhan recruited 8 individuals with unique identities, including psychologists, graduate students, psychiatrists, artists, and a housewife. The team was diverse, covering professionals, field experts, and ordinary individuals. Subsequently, Rosenhan instructed them to inform the doctors that aside from severe auditory hallucinations, they had no other symptoms. Through this experiment, he wanted to see how many out of the 8 could be recognized.
Under their intentional presentation, several of them were quickly placed in mental hospitals. However, once inside, they dropped their façade and returned to normalcy, everything seemed natural. Yet, after a week, the medical staff did not perceive their return to normalcy but instead deemed their mental state to have deteriorated further.
Normal as Abnormal?
They engaged in normal conversations, but the experts deemed it as “behavioral expressions of mental illness,” very risky. They took notes, but the experts considered it as a “writing behavior for deception.” As for their initiative to greet the medical staff, it was viewed as “abnormal behavior” by them. In the eyes of the doctors, their “abnormal” behaviors were due to the worsening of their mental state, all to gain the trust of the doctors and eventually escape from the mental hospital. In the end, all of them went to the chief physician’s office together to explain why they were admitted and the experiment process. However, the doctors believed that their mental illnesses had worsened and were planning to provide stronger treatment measures. If they hadn’t informed their lawyers before admission, these 8 individuals might have remained in there for a lifetime, never able to leave.
Experiment Results
Afterward, Rosenhan publicized his research and experiment to society, causing a stir. The investigation report clearly indicated that doctors cannot distinguish mental illness; once a person is labeled as “mentally ill”, no matter how normal their behavior, it will be considered abnormal in the eyes of the doctors. Therefore, not everyone with issues has mental illness, the problem lies within the doctors.
Ridiculous Follow-up
However, the report faced joint resistance from numerous mental hospitals, considering the experiment results as an outrageous insult, deeming it absurd and an isolated case that does not reflect issues in the entire mental health treatment field. Subsequently, Rosenhan and the most vehemently opposed, best-treatment hospital reached an agreement to send one or more infiltrators into the hospital within 3 months. To demonstrate their capabilities, the hospital found a total of 41 infiltrators and 42 suspected infiltrators sent by Rosenhan within the short period. However, as per the subsequent evidence presented by Rosenhan, he did not send any infiltrators during the 3 months.
