Safety, Science or Both? Deceptive Healthy Volunteer: Psychiatric Conditions Uncovered by Objective Methods of Screening

Previous reports document a high prevalence of psychopathology and highlight the importance of mental health screening of healthy volunteers in psychiatric research. Psychiatric research has typically used self-report scales and structured clinical interviews to rule out psychopathology. These subjective methods are often unreliable as some volunteers conceal their psychiatric conditions and substance use. Here we describe illustrative cases of psychiatric conditions in healthy volunteers that were uncovered by objective methods of screening including physical exam, laboratory testing, toxicology screen, and chart review.