Susannah Cahalan

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?

The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness

The Great Pretender

In 2009, 24-year-old Susannah Cahalan hovered on the precipice between life and death. Even as her doctors informed her family that she had incurable schizophrenia and would spend the rest of her short life in an institution, another doctor down the hall performed one final, informal test that, miraculously, delivered a lifesaving diagnosis: her disease was brought on by a physical problem and therefore treatable -- more "real," in other words, than the intangible problem of a purely mental illness. Susannah is the rare patient who has experienced both sides of this divide: the compassionate response to a treatable, physical diagnosis and the frightening realities of the label of insanity. Obsessed with that same dichotomy, psychiatrist David Rosenhan published a study in 1974 in the prestigious journal Science titled "On Being Sane in Insane Places." Eight people -- sane, normal, well-adjusted members of society -- checked themselves into mental institutions with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia forced to remain until they'd "proven" themselves sane. Rosenhan's watershed report, built on the data they collected, broke open the field of psychiatry, closing down institutions and changing mental health diagnosis forever. But the story doesn't end there: as Cahalan's explosive new research shows, very little in this saga is exactly as it seems. The more we learn about the study, the more questions emerge about what really happened behind those closed doors. How far have we come in answering the question that David Rosenhan posed all those years ago: "If sanity and insanity exist, how shall we know them"?

Patrick Book

Wow! What a story! And what a story inside the story. It’s hard to argue with her ultimate suggestion of asylum referendum, but I can’t imagine that will ever happen given the current state of...everything, I guess?

Taylor O

Dani Gale

I liked it. I think it is a good, general look into the industry and where pitfalls can occur. I am a little hesitant about some of the research. I think, if anything, it seems the takeaway needs to be that peer reviewed articles don't always mean they're accurate, and get a second opinion on a diagnosis.

But overall a good book. Worth the read, I see why it made the Youtube awards list.

Emily C Peterson

'Destined to become a popular and important book' Jon Ronson 'Fascinating' Sunday Times In the early 1970s, Stanford professor Dr Rosenhan conducted an experiment, sending sane patients into psychiatric wards; the result of which was a damning paper about psychiatric practises. The ripple effects of this paper helped bring the field of psychiatry to its knees, closing down institutions and changing mental health diagnosis forever. But what if that ground-breaking and now-famous experiment was itself deeply flawed? And what does that mean for our understanding of mental illness today? These are the questions Susannah Cahalan asks in her completely engrossing investigation into this staggering case, where nothing is quite as it seems.

The Undercover Mission that Changed our Understanding of Madness

Actual rating: 3.5

This was a super fascinating topic. If you are a psychology or human behaviour experiment buff, you will likely enjoy this book. 

Cahalan puts together a story that is unique - in that, you get an investigative journal story and feel, alongside a renowned psychological experiment.

Overall the audio was super engaging. Although I found that at some points it did become a little jargon-y (even for someone with a psych background, such as myself). Just a heads up. But it wasn't so much that it put me off the story or left me feeling lost and confused. 

Thank you to Libro.FM and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Dani C

3.5 stars. This book turned out quite differently than I expected. It has altered my perspective on psychology and our current American mental health concerns. A thought provoking read.

Suzie

Paige Wanner

Kathryn Johnson

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Jenelle andersen

"One of America's most courageous young journalists" and the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Brain on Fire investigates the shocking mystery behind the dramatic experiment that revolutionized modern medicine (NPR). Doctors have struggled for centuries to define insanity--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, healthy, 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 in this real-life detective story, very little in this saga is exactly as it seems. What really happened behind those closed asylum doors?

The Great Pretender The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness

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