Which scenario is most closely related to the results of the 1973 Rosenhan study?

• A. A hospital implements a new screening tool that successfully reduces the number of false positive diagnoses for depression.
• B. A patient with bipolar disorder receives medication and shows significant improvement in mood and functioning.
• C. A psychiatrist accurately diagnoses a patient with schizophrenia based on a thorough clinical interview and medical history.
• D. A group of healthy individuals are admitted to a psychiatric hospital after feigning symptoms and are subsequently treated as if they have a mental disorder.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the context of the 1973 Rosenhan study, which investigated the validity of psychiatric diagnoses by having healthy individuals feign symptoms to gain admission to psychiatric hospitals.
2. Step 2: Recognize that the key finding of the Rosenhan study was that once labeled with a psychiatric diagnosis, the pseudopatients were treated as mentally ill despite behaving normally, highlighting issues with diagnostic reliability and the impact of labeling.
3. Step 3: Analyze each scenario to see which one reflects the core theme of the Rosenhan study—misdiagnosis and the consequences of psychiatric labeling rather than accurate diagnosis or treatment.
4. Step 4: Identify that the scenario involving healthy individuals admitted after feigning symptoms and then treated as mentally ill directly parallels the Rosenhan study's methodology and findings.
5. Step 5: Conclude that this scenario best illustrates the study's implications about the challenges in psychiatric diagnosis and the potential for mislabeling patients.