The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness - Hardcover

Diseases like that are called the great pretenders, because their symptoms mimic the behaviors of psychiatric illnesses. Cahalan’s personal experience led her deeper into the study of mental health, where she learned of a groundbreaking 1973 study called “On Being Sane in Insane Places.” In that study, a Stanford psychologist named David Rosenhan, along with seven other sane people, volunteered to get themselves committed into asylums by repeating the words “thud, empty, hollow.” That was pretty much all it took. Eventually, they had to find their way out.

The Great Pretender is a panoramic look at the mental health industry, but at its center is a mystery. As Cahalan, who is a journalist, sets out to learn more about Rosenhan’s study, her work uncovers as many questions as it does answers. The result is a book that broadens our understanding of a system that many feel is broken, at the same time that it deepens our relationship to the people who are affected by that system (those who are admitted and those who are administering). It may also serve as a reminder that it’s not always good for us to meet our heroes. The more we read about Rosenhan, the more we begin to wonder if he wasn't a different kind of pretender than people thought him to be.--Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review