The Great Pretender

By: Susannah Cahalan

3/5 Diagnosis

What does it mean to be insane? How do we really distinguish the sane from the insane? Is it even humane to make such a distinction These are all questions Susannah Cahalan seeks to answer in The Great Pretender.

Going through a wrong psychosis diagnosis herself, Cahalan makes a great and person narrator. She tells the history of insane asylums and mental institutions before delving into an experiment conducted by David Rosenhan and his students. All participants attempt to get themselves committed into a mental institution by claiming to hear voices. The group uses only a few select words to describe the voices in order to test the difference between facilities: thud, empty, hollow.

Based on these words, a claim to hear voices, and a mere 30-minute interview, each participant but one was committed under the diagnosis of Schizophrenia. Cahalan's novel discusses what each of these participants experienced and how Rosenhan's experiment changed the world of psychology forever.

Cahalan clearly has personal stake in this story, and it shows through her writing style. Her passion and emotion are contagious; however, I'd say the reader needs to have a personal interest in psychology. While psychology does interest me, I am not invested in the subject enough to read technical pieces regarding it. This book did get a little technical here and there. I'll admit, at parts I was incredibly engrossed, and at others, Cahalan lost me entirely.

The ending itself felt almost unanswered. Cahalan is wonderful at her job. It's clear that she followed all journalistic instincts and leads; unfortunately, it didn't lead to a nice ending tied with a bow. There's still questions - questions that you must answer on your own. It is a thought-provoking read, and overall interesting, but it is not a book for everyone.

Suggested Pairing (History Aspect): 10 Days in a Madhouse - Nellie Bly

Suggest Pairing (Psychology Aspect): Unthinkable - Helen Thomson