Clinically speaking, how do we know when a person’s gone batshit? Hearing voices is a pretty good measure. And so in 1972, psychologist David Rosenhan wondered if patients would be admitted to psychiatric hospitals on the basis of voices alone. He recruited eight psychologically healthy confederates to find out. All eight tricked their way into mental hospitals based solely on their claims that indistinct voices were pronouncing the words hollow, empty, and thud in their heads.
Once inside, they acted perfectly normal, claiming the voices had left them. They took notes. One staff member considered this note taking pathological “writing behavior.” The study’s “patients” were released only after agreeing with staff psychiatrists that they were insane and starting antipsychotic medications. Their stays ranged from seven to fifty-two days.
