A caveat in regard to my previous message. Checking out another BBC webpage
about the documentary, I see that the activities undertaken by the
participants were mostly testing situations supposedly relevant to some of
the mental disorders from which some had individually suffered:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7722074.stm

"They were filmed during a week of activities, ranging from group bonding
exercises to specific psychological tests. All were designed to explore
some of the classic symptoms and traits of some major psychiatric
disorders."

Of course the effectiveness of such a procedure (as a test) largely depends
on the viability in this context of each activity as a diagnostic
technique, in regard to which I suspect I would have considerable
reservations - especially as several of the relevant participants were not
at the time experiencing the disorder, from which they had largely
recovered. For instance, I see no reason why the behaviour of someone who
has had a depressive episode in the past should reveal this fact in a
current activity.

Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
http://www.esterson.org

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