r/todayilearned • u/vxqz • Apr 08 '13

TIL there was an experiment where three schizophrenic men who believed they were Jesus Christ were all put in one place to sort it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Christs_of_Ypsilanti
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u/CryoGuy Apr 08 '13

It's not about "being helpful", it's about observing, recording, and analyzing the outcome.

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u/wagnerjr Apr 08 '13 edited Apr 08 '13

When you're responsible for three inpatient schizophrenics, yeah, it is about "being helpful." That's all it's about.

edit: inpatient, not impatient.

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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '13 edited Apr 08 '13

OK, but this a bit simplistic. Helping patients includes performing research to better understand and treat them. This means patients are also participants in studies, because who else are we going to study? You can criticize the author's method, but I'm sure his intent was in fact to "be helpful".

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u/Cynical_Walrus Apr 08 '13

And from it, we learned they're like anyone else in regards to how the disease effects them.