On being sane in insane places

摘要: It is clear that we cannot distinguish the sane from insane in psychiatric hospitals. The hospital itself imposes a special environment which meanings of behavior can easily be misunderstood. consequences to patients hospitalized such an environment-the powerlessness, depersonalization, segregation, mortification, and self-labeling-seem undoubtedly countertherapeutic. I do not, even now, understand this problem well enough perceive solutions. But two matters seem have some promise. first concerns proliferation community mental health facilities, crisis intervention centers, human potential movement, therapies that, for all their own problems, tend avoid labels, focus on specific problems behaviors, retain individual relatively non-pejorative environment. Clearly, extent refrain sending distressed places, our impressions them are less likely distorted. (The risk distorted perceptions, it seems me, always present, since much more sensitive individual's behaviors verbalizations than subtle contextual stimuli often promote them. At issue here matter magnitude. And, as shown, magnitude distortion exceedingly high extreme context hospital.) second might prove promising speaks need increase sensitivity workers researchers Catch 22 position patients. Simply reading materials area will help researchers. For others, directly experiencing impact hospitalization enormous use. further research into social psychology total institutions both facilitate treatment deepen understanding. other pseudopatients setting had distinctly negative reactions. We not pretend describe subjective experiences true Theirs may different ours, particularly with passage time necessary process adaptation one's speak objective indices within hospital. could mistake, very unfortunate one, consider what happened us derived malice or stupidity part staff. Quite contrary, overwhelming impression was people who really cared, were committed uncommonly intelligent. Where they failed, sometimes did painfully, would accurate attribute those failures they, too, found themselves personal callousness. Their perceptions controlled by situation, rather being motivated malicious disposition. In benign environment, one attached global diagnosis, judgments been effective.