Psychiatrist (game)
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Psychiatrist is a party game. Play occurs in a similar fashion to that in Scissors or Take a plane, with some notable exceptions. In this game, all of the players save one must be aware of the solution for the game to work.
[edit] Play
The players sit in a circle, with one player sitting in the middle of the circle. The player in the middle is the "psychiatrist", and the players in the circle are the "patients". The patients all share a common affliction. The psychiatrist must ask three yes/no questions to each patient, going around the circle indefinitely, until he or she discovers the illness that affects all of the players.
Since the affliction is common to all players, the psychiatrist usually must leave the room before play begins so that the patients may agree on their malady and thus their methodology in providing yes/no answers to the psychiatrist's questions.
Once a person knows the solution to this game, it usually makes variations of the game much easier for him or her to solve as a psychiatrist, despite the fact that there are many variations of possible afflictions that can be agreed upon. Therefore it is highly advisable that players who have not played this game are not told the solution as it would ruin the challenge and fun of playing and finding the solution on their own.
[edit] The solution
One common affliction used that often confounds the psychiatrist through many rounds of questioning is as follows. Each patient believes that he or she is the person to his or her right (or left). Thus, the patient will answer each question as his or her neighbor would (e.g. with a question like "Are you married?", a bachelor may answer "yes" if he is sitting next to a married person). The psychiatrist will often find it difficult to understand what is wrong with the player especially since he or she will be considering actual psychological conditions (multiple personality disorder, phobias, perpetual liar, etc) rather than a condition that is as absurd as the player believing that he or she is the adjacent player. Each player being asked a question should answer to the best of their knowledge. If a player answers incorrectly, the person whom they are speaking for immediately says "Psychiatrist" and all the players switch seats randomly. This is all part of the fun as the players learn about each other through both correct and incorrect answers.
It is interesting to note that with such a solution, the psychiatrist must often begin asking a different sort of questions in later rounds in order to solve the puzzle. For example, instead of asking if the patient is afraid of something, the psychiatrist should ask whether the player is wearing the color shirt that he or she is wearing. This will help the psychiatrist identify the relationship between the patients/players.
