Editing Stars Without Number: Back in Black (section)

=== Madness & The Black House ===

I don't really like the way that the base rules absolutely fry someone for using psychic powers untrained. So, instead, I'm ruling that untrained use of psychic powers accumulates Madness. If you're careful, you can get away with it for a while. A lot of incoming students do; they may have been using their abilities in secret for a time before the agents picked them up. It's a lot less of a problem than it used to be, but it still happens.

A great deal of what happens in the first year or two of Psychic training is attempting to undo the accumulated Madness of the worst cases, or at least help the students to deal with it. The education of psychics tends to be heavy on history, culture and religion for exactly this reason; many students take comfort in mysticism (although its discouraged if it becomes excessive.) 

They also often are given pets to take care of. It's therapeutic. The Black House gets weird some times.