Ypsi: Three Christs

Slate.com publishes an article about an experiment conducted in the late 1950s by psychologist Milton Rokeach. Rokeach studied three patients – who each believed they were Jesus Christ – as they lived together for two years at the Ypsilanti State Hospital: “Frustrated by psychology’s focus on what he considered to be peripheral beliefs, like political opinions and social attitudes, Rokeach wanted to probe the limits of identity. He had been intrigued by stories of Secret Service agents who felt they had lost contact with their original identities, and wondered if a man’s sense of self might be challenged in a controlled setting.” He documented the experiment in a 1964 book titled “The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.” [Source]