Martha Mitchell effect
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2008-04-22T11:25:39Z
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/* Description */ Link [[Joseph Berke]]
The '''Martha Mitchell effect''' is the process by which a psychiatrist, psychologist, or other mental health clinician mistakes the patient's perception of real events as [[delusional]] and misdiagnoses accordingly.
==Description==
According to Bell et al., "Sometimes, improbable reports are erroneously assumed to be symptoms of mental illness," due to a "failure or inability to verify whether the events have actually taken place, no matter how improbable intuitively they might appear to the busy clinician."<ref name=Bell2003>Bell, V., Halligan, P.W., Ellis, H.D. (2003) Beliefs About Delusions. ''The Psychologist'', 6 (8), 418-422.</ref> They note that typical examples of such situations, may include:
* Pursuit by practitioners of organized crime
* [[Surveillance]] by law enforcement officers
* Infidelity by a spouse
Quoting psychotherapist [[Joseph Berke]], the authors note that "even paranoids have enemies." Any patient, they explain, can be misdiagnosed by clinicians, especially ones with a history of paranoid delusions.
==Origin==
Psychologist [[Brendan Maher]] named the effect after [[Martha Beall Mitchell]].<ref name=Maher1988>Maher, B.A. (1988) Anomalous experience and delusional thinking: The logic of explanations. In T. Oltmanns and B. Maher (eds) ''Delusional Beliefs''. New York: Wiley Interscience</ref> Mrs. Mitchell was the wife of [[John N. Mitchell|John Mitchell]], [[United States Attorney General|Attorney-General]] in the [[Nixon administration]]. When she alleged that [[White House]] officials were engaged in illegal activities, her claims were attributed to [[mental illness]]. Ultimately, however, the relevant facts of the [[Watergate scandal]] vindicated her and hence attracted to her the title of '[[Cassandra]] of Watergate'.
==See also==
*[[Gaslighting]]
*[[Cassandra Complex]]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Popular psychology]]
[[Category:Richard Nixon]]