{"id":441,"date":"2026-06-08T10:52:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/?p=441"},"modified":"2026-06-08T10:54:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T14:54:04","slug":"441","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/08\/441\/","title":{"rendered":"A Case of Misdiagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A news story found here<\/a> recounts the case of a homeless man who was falsely identified as a criminal with a different name. Because he refused to admit being that man, he was committed to a mental institution where he was medicated for two years before the error was corrected. The most interesting part of the story is that the more agitated he became over being mistaken for someone else, the more certain the hospital staff was that he was delusional.\u00a0 For a long time, no one considered the possibility that his anger and distress were justified.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A news story found here recounts the case of a homeless man who was falsely identified as a criminal with a different name. Because he refused to admit being that man, he was committed to a mental institution where he … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disorders"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/scjttF-441","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":444,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/08\/update-on-a-famous-example-of-a-not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity-case\/","url_meta":{"origin":441,"position":0},"title":"Update on a Famous Example of a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Case","author":"dbernstein","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A 2022 news story found here updates the status of John Hinckley, Jr., the man who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and was ultimately released from a mental institution. A longer, and more detailed update appears here.","rel":"","context":"In "Psychological Disorders"","block_context":{"text":"Psychological Disorders","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/disorders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":425,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/05\/18\/two-sides-of-the-helping-phenomenon\/","url_meta":{"origin":441,"position":1},"title":"Two Sides of the Helping Phenomenon","author":"dbernstein","date":"May 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This article recounts a case of diffused responsibility resulting in the death of a man who could easily have been saved had any of numerous passersby had stopped to help. This one tells the story of a man who lost his life while saving others. Presenting these examples in tandem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social Psychology"","block_context":{"text":"Social Psychology","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/social\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":312,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2023\/04\/21\/webers-law-can-cost-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":441,"position":2},"title":"Weber’s Law Can Cost You!","author":"dbernstein","date":"April 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The following story provides an amusing, though costly example of the real-world importance of JNDs, in this case, for weight. During an extended stay in Italy, a man we know went to the grocery store, taking with him the shopping trolley (an opaque bag on wheels) provided in his rental\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sensation and Perception"","block_context":{"text":"Sensation and Perception","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/s-and-p\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":439,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/08\/a-case-of-arrested-physical-development\/","url_meta":{"origin":441,"position":3},"title":"A Case of Arrested Physical Development","author":"dbernstein","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This link presents the story of a 22 year-old woman whose childhood treatment of brain cancer resulted in stunted growth, leaving her looking like an 8 year-old child. The story includes a description of the social consequences of this mismatch between appearance and actual age.","rel":"","context":"In "Development"","block_context":{"text":"Development","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/development\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":146,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2020\/09\/13\/competency-to-stand-trial\/","url_meta":{"origin":441,"position":4},"title":"Competency to Stand Trial","author":"dbernstein","date":"September 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a recent example in which the process of determining a criminal suspect's competency to stand trial took so long that the time he spent in jail awaiting trial exceeded the length of his ultimate prison sentence. It also exemplifies the fact that clinical judgments about competency and sanity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Psychological Disorders"","block_context":{"text":"Psychological Disorders","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/disorders\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":416,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/05\/15\/dont-overthink-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":441,"position":5},"title":"Don’t Overthink It!","author":"dbernstein","date":"May 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A news story found here describes \u201cthe twisties,\u201d a condition in which gymnasts--including U.S. Olympian Simone Biles--who have overlearned routines to the point that they become automatic begin to think too much about how they perform these routines and as a result these thoughts interfere with the automatic performance. 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