

The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (2013) - mr_tyzic
http://www.damninteresting.com/three-thrown-over-the-cuckoos-nest/

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mentalhealth
I would highly recommend that anyone who finds this interesting read the book
by Rokeach (there's a good, cheap edition from NYRB that I buy a lot of people
as a gift) -- goes into far more detail, particularly with respect to the
medical aspects.

It's also a great case study to demonstrate the falsity of the idea that
there's any rationality to delusion -- the mind routes around thinking
critically about true delusions in a fundamental way. It's not possible to
reason your way out of a delusional state.

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ttctciyf
I read Rokeach's book a good few years ago, and found it more interesting for
the incidental detail than for the larger narrative or for drawing conclusions
from.

As the article notes, as a "scientific" experiment, the methodology was badly
flawed, and the narrative (as I recall) is impaired by the repetitious and
somewhat theory-laden recounting of the trajectories of the inmates.

Nonetheless, as you say, it's worth reading for anyone whose interest is
caught by the article. I'd also recommend another book I read around the same
time, _Operators and Things_ [1], which is at the opposite end of the spectrum
from _Three Christs_ , having been (apparently) written by someone visited
suddenly by clinical paranoia about that experience; it's strong on narrative,
weak on clinical detail, quite possibly fictional, and with perhaps a more
cheerful ending.

[1]
[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/761935.Operators_and_Thin...](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/761935.Operators_and_Things)

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TheMakeA
Never imagined I would see an article involving Ypsilanti on HN.

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TraderKev
Same here. Have lived in Ypsi for many years and learned of this study and
book a few years back. Absolutley fascinating though very unethical study.

Btw, the site was bought by Toyota years ago and the hospital is long
demolished.

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thisjepisje
Whenever I read of messiah delusions I'm reminded of this short story:

[http://squid314.livejournal.com/324957.html](http://squid314.livejournal.com/324957.html)

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rthomas6
What was done to those patients seemed incredibly cruel. It's one thing to
have the patients confront each others' delusions. It's quite another to cause
them distress just to see what happens.

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jljljl
The author came to agree with this over time:

"Rokeach came to think that his research had been manipulative and unethical,
and he offered an apology in the afterword of the 1984 edition of the book: "I
really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere
round the clock with their daily lives."

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Christs_of_Ypsilanti](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Christs_of_Ypsilanti)

~~~
dang
It's poignant how he inadvertently mentions four gods, then realizes that he
was the fourth.

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trhway
> What might happen, he wondered, if a psychologist were to deliberately pair
> up patients who held directly conflicting identity delusions? Perhaps such
> psychological leverage could be used to pry at the cracks of an irrational
> psyche to let in the light of reason.

> Over time, each Christ cultivated new delusions to retain his claim to
> godliness.

somehow not surprising seeing how people in general defend their irrational
psyche - ideologies, believes, superstitions, etc... - from the light of
reason. It is just a theory which will trickle down by God's will, i guess.

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Eiriksmal
This was a very interesting read, but I feel too groggy today to pull out an
appropriate conclusion--especially since, in the author's own words, this was
a useless study that did neither the patients, nor the scientific community,
any good.

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Eiriksmal
Let me rephrase that: What impact on psychology did this study have? Is it
solely noted today for influencing some laws protecting the subjects of
psychological treatment/research, or did it end up benefiting the scientific
community in some way?

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theoh
Whoa there. As a past inpatient of a psychiatric hospital, I can tell you that
respecting the human rights of patients is the number one area of failure of
the psychiatric "community". As such, increased respect for the human rights
of patients is not to be sneezed at.

As far as benefit to science is concerned, things don't look good on that
front. Psychiatry is essentially a state-sponsored pseudoscience, concerned
far more with normative behaviour and social control that with understanding
mental illness. It's an unpleasant field to work in, with the result (I
suspect) that only the stupid or unfortunate in the medical professions end up
there.

(Richard Bentall's books are a good place to start if you want a balanced,
"evidence based" and intellectually rigorous perspective on the field.)

