This is one of those "important research with unbelievably flawed methods" sort of situations. Psych research before IRBs was crazy.
If you've ever taken a depression screener at a wellness visit, that's a consequence of this work. This paper describes how unreliable psychiatric diagnosis used to be. There were standards, but they ultimately came down to physician judgment. This created demand for more objective standards, which resulted in the "checklist" approach that we have now.
It's true. You wouldn't believe how many people I've SIGECAPS'd during my medical training. I didn't realize this article was the beginning of this approach, but it certainly helped get care to people who previously wouldn't have received it. Though I'm sure there are also many who may require intervention that aren't captured by a SIGECAPS exam. The double edged sword of the checklist manifesto, though I overall think it has been beneficial.
SIGECAPS is an acronym taught in US medicine for the diagnosis of major depressive disorder: Sleep disturbance, Interest loss, Guilt, Energy loss, Concentration loss, Appetite changes, Psychomotor agitation, Suicidality. And must have Depressed mood or Anhedonia (inability to enjoy things previously enjoyable).
The history of the SIG E CAPS acronym is also interesting, I've heard it was short for SIG (old shorthand for "to be prescribed") Energy CAPsules.
Is "energy capsules" a euphemism for amphetamines?
An experiment where they sent normal people to mental institutes to see if professionals would be able to identify them.
And interestingly, how often the patients in the ward could spot these normal people while the medical staff did not.
This is from the seventies. I wonder if things would be different fifty years later.
Nope!
This isn't really the same situation.
That one is a case of mistaken identity, but the same process, same players, and same system.