Editing Martha Mitchell effect

{{short description|Labelling real experiences as delusional}}
{{distinguish|text = [[The Martha Mitchell Effect]], a 2022 documentary on this subject}}

[[File:Martha Mitchell 1969 - NARA - 194649 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|175px|[[Martha Mitchell]], for whom the effect is named]]

The '''Martha Mitchell effect''' occurs when a medical professional labels a patient's accurate perception of real events as [[delusion]]al, resulting in [[misdiagnosis]].<ref name=Coleman2015>Coleman, A. (2015). [https://books.google.com/books?id=UDnvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA441 A Dictionary of Psychology]. p441.</ref ><ref name=Alexander1996>Alexander, G. J. (1996). [https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1155&context=facpubs International Human Rights Protection Against Psychiatric Political Abuses.] [[Santa Clara L. Rev.]], 37, 387.</ref>

==Description==
According to Bell ''et al''., "Sometimes, improbable reports are erroneously assumed to be symptoms of mental illness (Maher, 1998)", 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=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Bell|first1=Vaughan|last2=Halligan|first2=Peter|last3=Ellis|first3=Hadyn D.|date=August 2003|title=Beliefs about delusions|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265280728|journal=Psychologist|volume=16|pages=418–422|issn=0952-8229}}</ref>

Examples of such situations are:
* Pursuit by [[organized crime|organized criminals]]<ref name=":0" />
* [[Surveillance]] by law enforcement officers<ref name=":0" />
* Infidelity by a spouse<ref name=":0" />
* Physical issues

Quoting psychotherapist [[Joseph Berke]], the authors report that, "even [[Paranoia|paranoid]]s have enemies."<ref name=":0" /> Delusions are "abnormal beliefs" and may be bizarre (considered impossible to be true), or non-bizarre (possible, but considered by the clinician as highly improbable). Beliefs about being poisoned, being followed, marital infidelity or a conspiracy in the workplace are examples of non-bizarre beliefs that may be considered delusions.<ref name=":0" /> Any patient can be misdiagnosed by clinicians, especially patients with a history of [[Delusional disorder|paranoid delusions]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Wy |first=Tom Joshua P. |title=Schizoaffective Disorder |date=2024 |work=StatPearls |url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541012/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=31082056 |last2=Saadabadi |first2=Abdolreza}}</ref>

==Origin==
Psychologist [[Brendan Maher (psychologist)|Brendan Maher]] named the effect after [[Martha Mitchell]].<ref name=Maher1988>Maher, Brendan 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> Mitchell was the wife of [[John N. Mitchell|John Mitchell]], [[United States 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 facts of the [[Watergate scandal]] vindicated her and garnered her the label "The [[Cassandra (metaphor)|Cassandra]] of Watergate".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gahlot |first1=Deepa |title=The Cassandra of Watergate gets her due, at last, writes Deepa Gahlot |url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/the-cassandra-of-watergate-gets-her-due-at-last-writes-deepa-gahlot |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=[[The Free Press Journal]] |date=June 17, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> 

Although it has been stated that many of her allegations remain unproven, even some of the extreme ones have been confirmed. She claimed to have been drugged and put under guard during a visit to California after her husband was summoned back to [[Washington, D.C.]], in order to prevent her from leaving the hotel or making phone calls to the news media.<ref>Reeves, Richard ''President Nixon: Alone in the White House'', p. 511</ref> [[James W. McCord, Jr|James McCord]] confirmed in 1975 that her story was true, as reported in ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=McCord Declares That Mrs. Mitchell Was Forcibly Held |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/19/archives/mccord-declares-that-mrs-mitchell-was-forcibly-held-comment-from.html?_r=0 |access-date=9 March 2025 |work=The New York Times | date=19 February 1975 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206154105/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/19/archives/mccord-declares-that-mrs-mitchell-was-forcibly-held-comment-from.html?_r=0 |archivedate=2018-02-06}}</ref> More evidence supporting Mitchell's claims was published in a 2017 news article in ''[[Newsweek]]'' about the appointment of [[Stephen B. King]], the security agent who abducted Mitchell, as the [[U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stein |first1=Jeff |title=One of Trump's ambassadors beat and "kidnapped" a woman as part of the Watergate cover-up: reports |url=https://www.newsweek.com/2017/12/29/donald-trump-watergate-stephen-king-martha-mitchell-richard-nixon-john-744823.html |access-date=19 October 2020 |work=Newsweek |date=11 December 2017 |language=en}}</ref> In 2022, [[Netflix]] released a documentary titled ''[[The Martha Mitchell Effect]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://wegotthiscovered.com/news/watch-netflix-releases-trailer-for-the-martha-mitchell-effect/|title=Watch: Netflix releases trailer for 'The Martha Mitchell Effect'|first=Ashley|last= Marie|date= May 23, 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Adrian Schoolcraft]]
* [[Arnold Juklerød]]
* [[Argument from ignorance]]
* [[False memory]]
* [[Gaslighting]]
* [[Goldwater rule]]
* [[Gustl Mollath]]
* [[Psychosis]]
* [[Rosemary's Baby (novel)]]
* [[Rosenhan experiment]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Anti-psychiatry}}

[[Category:Popular psychology]]
[[Category:Watergate scandal]]
[[Category:Medical error]]
[[Category:Medical diagnosis]]
[[Category:Delusions]]
[[Category:Psychiatric false diagnosis]]
[[Category:Eponyms in medicine]]