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Is Confirmation Bias Affecting Today's Mental Health Industry ?
An ever present phenomenon, confirmation bias is the primary factor that poses as a 'peril to our
perception' of others. It has been known to affect our political attitudes, our preference in social
interaction, verdicts, hiring policies, medical diagnoses, and most recently- our mental healthcare
sector.
Predispositions are an essential component of human nature, the prevalence of which makes it a
fascinating factor in the human psyche. Be it children or adults, we have very strong opinions
about certain matters, about how things work, and how we perceive what we choose to believe.
At a certain point, however, our opinions prove to be not only a boon, but a bane, especially at
the expense of another's well-being.
Mental health is an emerging sector that is rapidly gaining awareness in today's time.
Overcoming all taboos, it has proved to be a vital aspect of human wellness and is encouraging
therapeutic care on a grand scale. And yet, this 'essential component of human nature' now poses
a threat to mental healthcare and the future of treatment.
Confirmation bias is conventionally defined as a person's tendency to draw conclusions from

information that aligns with their beliefs. It results in reaching a decision that is unintentionally
ignorant of details that are deviant from our opinions. Thus, people are more likely to side with
their faith in a guess than a thorough observation to prove otherwise.
A documentary 'Going Sane' by UC San Diego Health has explained the growing issue of biased
diagnoses. When it comes to therapists, especially those who are overconfident in their beliefs as
they have been proven correct in the past, they have a tendency to overlook and sometimes
refuse evidence-based therapy. They prioritize their hypothesis regardless of the contradictory
reality presented in the evidence presented before them. This problem had been identified as
early as the late 1960's by Alvin R. Feinstein in the clinical field. It was concluded that even
when patients did recover from a mental disorder or ailment, they thought it was because of the
treatment, even though that treatment was proven as impractical and ineffective. Since then,
evidence-based therapy has been the norm for medical professionals and has significantly
declined the rate of personal biases. However, the same meticulousness is yet to be seen in the
mental health field - practitioners continue to blur the line between clinical intuition and
conscientious decision making. According to 'Going Sane', it is due to the fact that even now,
psychology has not yet resolved its conflict of being either an art or a science, and whether
scientific evidence is truly required for mental health professionals.
Therapists and psychiatrists often have a preliminary hunch regarding the diagnosis of a medical
condition early in the treatment process. This hunch can interfere with the doctor’s ability to
assess information that may indicate an alternative diagnosis. According to a study by Emory
College and Brigham Young University, most therapists believed that 91% of their patients
would have successful treatment in contrast to a staggering 42% in reality. This has proven that
confirmation bias has indeed led to multiple diagnostic errors along with horrible consequences
as well.
The error of confirmation bias affects not only the therapists' judgment, but the health of the
patient as well. An experiment conducted by Mendel R in 2011 consisted of 75 psychiatrists and
75 medical students who were told to diagnose a group of patients with mental disorders. As a
result, 13% of the psychiatrists and 25% of the students showed confirmation bias when they
searched for new information (i.e stuck to their preliminary diagnosis even after processing of
information) Ultimately, those participants misdiagnosed 70% of their patients. The participants
who gave biased diagnoses also gave the wrong prescriptions for treatment, which in a realistic
setting, could prove harmful to the patient's health. Misdiagnoses like these result in confusion
and distress in a patient when their suggested treatment isn't working, and further leads to
deterioration of their mental health. Alternatively, professionals would overestimate their
treatment prescribed, and focus on encouraging signs of improvement than on indications which
say otherwise. Without a comprehensive analysis of each session, emotion or action of the
patient, the psychologist has free reign to interpret subjectively.
An article published under Science Magazine by Dr. Rosenhan describes a study he conducted in
the early 2010s. The subjects, who were volunteers in perfect mental health, had admitted
themselves in various hospitals on the pretext of a single symptom they experienced. Despite
having a cordial record with hospital staff, having zero record of substance abuse, traumatic
experiences, biological abnormality or disturbed behaviour- that one feigned symptom extended
their hospital stay from seven to almost 50 days. Mental health professionals in these facilities
were not able to detect this subterfuge, and discharged the subjects only on the condition that
they accept their diagnosis and commit to taking anti-psychotic drugs. What is more distressing
is that unlike the staff, who had no suspicion, 47% of patients acquainted with those subjects
were able to thwart them as imposters. Here we see another aspect of confirmation bias: a doctor
is more likely to diagnose a perfectly healthy individual unwell than risk overseeing problems in
a genuinely ill person. Furthermore, it reinforces the fact that professionals tend to form an
impression about their patient within the first few moments. Once a decision is made, they will
cling to it with confidence, cherry-picking the evidence that attributes to their diagnosis.
To conclude in support of the documentary, numerous people who suffer from mental disorders
are thus vulnerable to confirmation bias. It manifests as a grave flaw of human error in the trust
that is maintained between patient and professional. It is the bare minimum of the latter to take
all evidence into consideration before diagnosing individuals, rather than take an easier route of
invalidating their actual symptoms. If practicing psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists
emphasize on the implementation of systematic research, it shall profoundly improve diagnostic
accuracy and effective treatment. It is thus an ethical imperative to reduce the impact of
confirmation bias- to make mental healthcare provisions available and truly fruitful for today's
society.
Bibliography:
"Going Sane." Youtube, uploaded by Josh Sabey, 21 April 2017, Boldrush! Studios. 2017,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnYg41sHMmU
“Discussing the Role of Clinical Biases in Diagnosis.” Edubirdie, 15 Sept. 2022,

edubirdie.com/examples/discussing-the-role-of-clinical-biases-in-diagnosis/
Vasu, Norman, et al. “Human Fallibility and Cognitive Predispositions.” FAKE NEWS:
NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE POST-TRUTH ERA, S. Rajaratnam School of International
Studies, 2018, pp. 14–18. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17648.7. Accessed 13 June.
2023.
Dayva Segal, Melinda Ratini. "What is Confirmation Bias?" WebMD. Health and Balance
Guide, 15 September 2023, pp. 96-97.
Larivée, Serge, Carole Sénéchal, et Zoé St-Onge. "Le biais de confirmation en clinique",
Enfance, vol. 4, no. 4, 2018, pp. 575-592.
Mendel, R et al. “Confirmation bias: why psychiatrists stick to wrong preliminary diagnoses.”
Psychological medicine vol. 41,12 (2011): 2651-9. doi:10.1017/S0033291711000808
“Discussing the Role of Clinical Biases in Diagnosis.” Edubirdie, 15 Sept. 2022,

edubirdie.com/examples/discussing-the-role-of-clinical-biases-in-diagnosis/
Davis, Neil M. “Med Errors: Combating Confirmation Bias.” The American Journal of Nursing,
vol. 94, no. 7, 1994, pp. 17–17. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3464683. Accessed 20 June.
2023.

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Is Confirmation Bias Affecting Today's Mental Health Industry ?

Confirmation bias is conventionally defined as a person's tendency to draw conclusions from

“Discussing the Role of Clinical Biases in Diagnosis.” Edubirdie, 15 Sept. 2022,

“Discussing the Role of Clinical Biases in Diagnosis.” Edubirdie, 15 Sept. 2022,

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