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A review by abstab
The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan
4.0
This title came up on my recommended books and I thought I'd give it a go. I found the concept of "pseudopatients" very interesting and thought it was a great test on psychiatric hospitals. Pseudopatients were the individuals who presumably had no mental illnesses but had to convince admissions specialists that they had something; the goal of their trials were to see if they could get discharged and see if they would be outed as "sane". I liked this premise but I became a bit confused because there seemed to be some inconsistencies within the main psychiatrist leading the studies and I didn't understand what exactly was going on. Overall, an interesting read for insight into the mental health system and the definition of "sanity".
Important Quote:
“‘I talked and acted just like I do in ordinary life. Yet strange to say, the more sanely I talked and acted, the crazier I was thought to be’” (19).
Surprising Fact:
Hospitals were notified that there was the possibility of pseudopatients admitting into their hospitals, but the man who was supposed to admit ended up not going, yet the hospitals reported that they believed that 23 actual admits could have been pseudopatients.
Key Takeaway:
Mental illness is complex and our current mental health system doesn't address or take care of individuals correctly while stigmatizing many.
Important Quote:
“‘I talked and acted just like I do in ordinary life. Yet strange to say, the more sanely I talked and acted, the crazier I was thought to be’” (19).
Surprising Fact:
Hospitals were notified that there was the possibility of pseudopatients admitting into their hospitals, but the man who was supposed to admit ended up not going, yet the hospitals reported that they believed that 23 actual admits could have been pseudopatients.
Key Takeaway:
Mental illness is complex and our current mental health system doesn't address or take care of individuals correctly while stigmatizing many.