Is Free Thinking A Mental Illness?

reply to post by mindovermatter88


The problem is the Rosenhan experiment was done in 1973. There has been much progress in the field of psychiatry since then, including two new editions of the DSM each of which had a text revision. There has also been a lot of work done to decrease the stigma surrounding mental illness. So, you can reference it all you want, but you have to acknowledge that the climate surrounding psychiatry today is much different than it was in '73.

reply to post by Xcalibur254


I do acknowledge that the climate in psychiatry has changed since 1973. And I realize that the disorder is referring to a childhood illness. I just think it's a slippery slope to set the precedent that someone who doesn't accept the mainstream world view could be mentally ill (reduced stigma or not, their credibility in a public forum on political issues would be shot). And even with improvements in the field of psychiatry, the danger of confirmation bias will always be present. I think the title of Rosenhan's study sums it up nicely "On Being Sane in Insane Places", I think many of us here on ATS can relate to the feeling of being one of the few sane people in an insane society.

I think psychiatrists should examine each other...

Would love to see the reports on those studies

reply to post by zorgon


Blind studies too, so that they don't know that they are interviewing each other or another shrink....

I agree Z, those results would be worth seeing.



Edit: Check out the Rosenham experiment referenced by mindovermatter88. It is interesting and frightening.