The Three Christs of Ypsilanti

I've always been intrigued by the fact that given a universe of possibilities and a mind that is spinning rapidly in the roiling waters of psychosis... why do so many mentally ill people share very similar delusions?

Perhaps it's reflection of that old saw that there are only seven types of joke or something along those lines - there are only a few 'core' delusions, I dunno I'm not a psychiatrist. It kinda disappoints me that if you're gonna go through the terrible experience of suffering from a mental illness, mind careening from one free association to the next in an unfettered pinball game, what a shame that your visions and revelations are just so... hack.

A popular delusion is that the patient believes they're Jesus. In the late fifties psychologist Milton Rokeach had a plan. One assumes that in the good old days you didn't need to bother with such distractions as ethics. He got three patients, each with the delusion that they were Jesus Christ, to live together for two years in Ypsilanti State Hospital to see what happened.

The early meetings were stormy. "You oughta worship me, I'll tell you that!" one of the Christs yelled. "I will not worship you! You're a creature! You better live your own life and wake up to the facts!" another snapped back. "No two men are Jesus Christs. … I am the Good Lord!" the third interjected, barely concealing his anger.