Mental illness and social stigma: notes on "How Mad Are You?"

The program was inspired by the 1972 "Rosenhan Experiment," in which the American psychologist David Rosenhan and several associates feigned auditory hallucinations in order to have themselves admitted to psychiatric hospitals. Eight of these "pseudopatients" were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. Although they ceased displaying any symptoms once admitted to a hospital, they were detained for between 17 and 52 days. None were recognized by hospital staff. The experiment's results, published in Science in 1973,1 raised questions about the validity of psychiatric diagnosis. Part one introduces the three experts and ten volunteers and explains that the goal of the study is to attempt to recognize six forms of mental illness: depression, social anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder and the eating disorders anorexia and bulimia. The panel of experts has one week of observation to identify whether or not any of the volunteers has one of these illnesses. Before beginning, the panelists discuss the insufficient time for a proper psychiatric diagnosis but appear willing to accept the challenge and lend their expertise to the study.