The Fraud that Transformed Psychiatry

In 1973 a bombshell study appeared in the premier scientific journal Science. It was called “On Being Sane in Insane Places.” Its author, a Stanford psychology professor named David Rosenhan, claimed that by faking their way into psychiatric hospitals, he and eight other pseudo-patients had proven that psychiatrists were unable to diagnose mental illness accurately.

Psychiatrists panicked, and, as a result, re-wrote what’s known as “psychiatry’s bible”-the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM. The study and the subsequent overhaul of the DSM changed the field forever. So it was a surprise when, decades later, a journalist reopened Rosenhan’s files and discovered that the study was full of inconsistencies and even blatant fraud. So should we throw out everything it revealed? Or can something based on a lie still contain any truths?
Credits

Host: Alexis Pedrick (www.sciencehis...) Senior Producer: Mariel Carr (www.sciencehis...) Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez (www.sciencehis...) Associate Producer: Sarah Kaplan (www.sciencehis...) Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer (www.podbrain.org/) “Color Theme” composed by Jonathan Pfeffer (www.podbrain.org/) . Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.b...)