In search of Insane Places

On being sane in insane places.

It is clear that we cannot distinguish the sane from the insane in psychiatric hospitals. The hospital itself imposes a special environment in which the meanings of behavior can easily be misunderstood. The consequences to patients hospitalized in such an environment-the powerlessness, depersonalization, segregation, mortification, and self-labeling-seem undoubtedly countertherapeutic. I do not...

Understanding collaborative search for places of interest

Finding a place of interest (e.g. a restaurant, hotel, or attraction) is often related to a group information need, however, the actual multi-party collaboration in such searches has not been explored, and little is known about its significance and related practices. We surveyed 100 computer science students and found that 94% (of respondents) searched for places online; 87% had done so as part...

On pseudoscience in science, logic in remission, and psychiatric diagnosis: a critique of Rosenhan's "On being sane in insane places".

Rosenhan's "On Being Sane in Insane Places" is pseudoscience presented as science. Just as his pseudopatients were diagnosed at discharge as "schizophrenia in remission," so a careful examination of this study's methods, results, and conclusion leads to a diagnosis of "logic in remission." Rosenhan's study proves that pseudopatients are not detected by psychiatrists as having simulated signs of...

Insane Delusions

Snake-Swallowing in an Insane

j. B. P., a European male, aged 42, transferred to this Asylum from Agra on the 11th October, 1918. His physical health is excellent. Wassermann reaction?Absolutely negative. Diagnosis?Dementia prsecox. . On the morning of the 31st July, 1920, immediately after he had passed stools in a commode in the ward, about 8 inches of a snake was found in his stools but minus its head.Every care was take...