# The definition of insanity

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 3, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249 "2004-02-03T00:12:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definition-of-insanity/227249/21 "2004-02-04T08:03:01Z")

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> [@](#):
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> **Meeko** : And wouldn’t we all go insane… by reading this post, over and over again, expecting a new reply?

Ooooh! And all this time I thought it was reefer madness.

**Z\_Al** , I was not really impressed with the paper by Rosenhan – “On Being Sane in Insane Places.”

[http://members.aol.com/ahunter3/psych\_inmates\_libfront/vol\_2/Rosenhan/rosenhan.html](http://members.aol.com/ahunter3/psych_inmates_libfront/vol_2/Rosenhan/rosenhan.html)

One of my main objections is that he misuses the word _insane_ even though he addresses its definition. It does seem to me that if someone is going to write about it, he should not be confused about its meaning. He was very young, however, and the concept was certainly interesting.

Keep in mind that the paper was written over thirty years ago. Changes in understanding and treatment of mental illness have changed _enormously._

Some of the staff behaviors he described (hitting and slapping) would be cause for a lawsuit. Other staff behaviors which seem to him invasive are quite understandable. He is concerned about staff members being able to enter your hospital room at any time. That is for the protection of all patients. (To prevent rape, search for dangerous objects, check on the welfare of patients, etc.) Rosenhan was also concerned about the monitoring of body fluids. After all, these were _hospitals_, the patients were supposed to be taking medications that might require monitoring, and analysis of waste products has long been a way of looking for other possible causes of symptoms. Mental illness is not always “just in the head.”

Rosenhan fails to take into consideration that all of the “normal” (whatever _that_ means) participants went in with one of the main symptoms of schzophrenia: hearing voices. They _did_ mislead the staff.

I also dislike the “study” for another reason. These non-patients violated the trust of real patients who had not volunteered to be participants in research. There is a bond that is established among patients that is like no other relationship.

It is very, very unscientific in nature – filled with conjecture, assumptions, speculation. He makes unsupported claims based on his own limited experiences.

But you were right…it _is_ interesting!

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