The Great Pretender cover art

The Great Pretender

The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Great Pretender

By: Susannah Cahalan
Narrated by: Katherine Fenton
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £14.82

Buy Now for £14.82

Summary

For centuries, doctors have struggled to define mental illness - how do you diagnose it, how do you treat it, how do you even know what it is?

In search of an answer, in the 1970s a Stanford psychologist named David Rosenhan and seven other people - sane, normal, well-adjusted members of society - went undercover into asylums around America to test the legitimacy of psychiatry's labels.

Forced to remain inside until they'd 'proven' themselves sane, all eight emerged with alarming diagnoses and even more troubling stories of their treatment. Rosenhan's watershed study broke open the field of psychiatry, closing down institutions and changing mental health diagnosis forever.

But, as Cahalan's explosive new research shows, very little in this saga is exactly as it seems. What really happened behind those closed asylum doors, and what does it mean for our understanding of mental illness today?

Preface and epilogue read by the author.

©2019 Susannah Cahalan (P)2019 Canongate Books Ltd (Existing Audio) (Non-Exclusive) Mental Health Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Health Medicine Substance abuse
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
All stars
Most relevant
Wow! I loved Susannah Cahallan’s first book, Brain On Fire, a personal account about her battle with *spoiler alert* autoimmune encephalitis, so was really intrigued to read her second offering. This one was about Mental Health, what we know about it, how it is treated, and about a study that resulted in massive changes to the entire mental health syste, in america and the rest of the world. It wasn’t exactly a fast-paced, thrill ride but it was very interesting and had a twist. Who knew non-fiction books could have a twist?!
This is a very important book that sheds new light on the science of mental health and psychiatry. It is an in-depth piece of investigative journalism on a subject about which Cahallan is obviously very passionate and knowledgeable, and this comes across through her writing. I highly recommend it to anyone who has any interest in mental illness and it’s treatment.

brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Having studied psychology I was well aware of Rosenhan’s study though not the controversy that surrounded it with claims of exaggerating or falsifying data.
This books is very well researched and informative and goes into Rosenhan’s personal private notes about the study and explores the much needed discussion of labelling theory and our views towards mental illness.
I highly recommend it.

Highly enjoyable and informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.