Book Author: Lauren Slater CHAPTER 3: On being sane in insane places
Summary
Wanting to test how well a psychiatrist could distinguish the "sane" from the "insane", in the early 1970's David Rosenhan decided to go into multiple psychiatric institutions, and claim he was hearing a voice: a "thud". Eight other people he recruited did the same experiment, and the results that were found were that people would get admitted into the hospital and given pills. This even after, Rosenham, and his colleagues hinted they weren't really hearing voices. Rosenhan describes how the patients of the hospital were treated with insults, and battered. He also points out the irony in the patients of the hospital noticing he was not in fact "insane", and the nurses and doctors concluding the contrary. Lauren Slater explains the reaction of a critic of Rosenhan, Spitzer, who saw this as an affront to the psychiatric field, and went to write papers refuting the experiment. Wanting to try this experiment herself, L. Slater decides to reproduce the same experiements as Rosenhan, and finds out that years later after Rosenhan's experiment, there is still a problem of misdiagnosing patients. Most of the doctors she goes see prescribe her with pills. However, Slater also praises them for not admitting her, and treating her in a respectful manner. She also concludes that the pressure of coming to a conclusion may explain why some doctors prescribe pill to their patients instead of admitting their inability to diagnose the problem.
Wanting to test how well a psychiatrist could distinguish the "sane" from the "insane", in the early 1970's David Rosenhan decided to go into multiple psychiatric institutions, and claim he was hearing a voice: a "thud". Eight other people he recruited did the same experiment, and the results that were found were that people would get admitted into the hospital and given pills. This even after, Rosenham, and his colleagues hinted they weren't really hearing voices. Rosenhan describes how the patients of the hospital were treated with insults, and battered. He also points out the irony in the patients of the hospital noticing he was not in fact "insane", and the nurses and doctors concluding the contrary. Lauren Slater explains the reaction of a critic of Rosenhan, Spitzer, who saw this as an affront to the psychiatric field, and went to write papers refuting the experiment. Wanting to try this experiment herself, L. Slater decides to reproduce the same experiements as Rosenhan, and finds out that years later after Rosenhan's experiment, there is still a problem of misdiagnosing patients. Most of the doctors she goes see prescribe her with pills. However, Slater also praises them for not admitting her, and treating her in a respectful manner. She also concludes that the pressure of coming to a conclusion may explain why some doctors prescribe pill to their patients instead of admitting their inability to diagnose the problem.
Discussion
I liked this chapter, and the author's adventurous energy to go and try Rosenhan's experiment herself. She has had real mental problems herself in her youth, so it was interesting to see her go back to the environment she was familiar with. It was also interesting to learn how Rosenhan essentially discrited the psychiatric field, and prompter today's psychiatrists to find out other diagnosing methods.
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