One day when I was an intern at the Lunatic Asylum, I sat in on a most remarkable panel interview. Present were a presiding doctor, two female nurses, two male attendants, myself, and one other student. Much like a parole board, highly placed medical professionals often questioned one inmate after another as to their health and well being, any progress (or lack thereof) toward mental stability, their level of self-confidence and self-control, their hopes and dreams, etc. It was little more than a way of checking the pulse of the Asylum to make sure that the doctors (who rarely...