The Three Christs of Ypsilanti

This landmark study of 3 schizophrenic patients—each believing they are Jesus Christ—offers a “rare and eccentric journey” into madness, shining a light on the ethical dilemmas of institutionalized care in the mid-20th century ( Slate ). On July 1, 1959, at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan, the social psychologist Milton Rokeach brought together three paranoid schizophrenics: Clyde Benson, an elderly farmer and alcoholic; Joseph Cassel, a failed writer who was institutionalized after increas