The Great Pretender: A damning diagnosis of a well-known psychiatric experiment

Psychiatry: Susannah Cahalan reveals how the results of a famous study into psychiatric malpractice weren’t as clear cut as they initially appeared

Stanford psychologist David Rosenhan carried out a famous experiment in which he and eight other mentally healthy participants managed to get themselves admitted into psychiatric hospitals

The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission that changed our Understanding of Madness

By Susannah Cahalan

Canongate, €21

Susannah Cahalan was a journalist in New York when her life was suddenly turned upside down. Out of nowhere, she started exhibiting signs of psychosis and was prey to terrifying delusions – most alarmingly, she believed she could age people with her mind.

Initially, psychiatrists considered her a lost cause. Thankfully, upon the insistence of her parents, she ...