The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So-Called Psychopathic Personality is a foundational work on the nature and diagnosis of psychopathy by Dr. Harvey M. Cleckley. This landmark work explores the psychopath's ability to hide their illness and function "normally" in public when it serves their ends. This ability to slip on the "mask" makes identification and diagnoses of these individuals extremely difficult.
Dr. Hervey M. Cleckley (1903-1984) was a professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of Georgia School of Medicine. As the psychiatric consultant at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Augusta and the Camp Gordon Army Hospital, he had ample opportunities to observe and treat men suffering from war-related trauma like post-traumatic stress disorder.
He wrote several books on psychiatry, including The Three Faces of Eve with Dr. Corbett H. Thigpen. This book is a case study on a patient with a rare diagnosis of multiple personality disorder. It was later made into a film of the same name. Actress Joanne Woodward won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Eve's three personalities. Dr. Cleckley was also a consultant for the prosecution in the 1979 trial of Ted Bundy.
Dr. Cleckley's best-known work is The Mask of Sanity, first published in 1941. This printing is the second edition, published in 1950. The work was revised several times across four decades, as additional research and new subjects increased his knowledge of the subject.
The title refers to the mask that the psychopathic personality is able to apply in everyday situations, in order to achieve their ends or get themselves out of trouble. While other manifestations of mental illness are uncontrollable and involuntary, the psychopath is able to conceal theirs when it suits their purpose.
To add to the complication, many people in the beginning stages of their psychosis behave normally most of the time, only occasionally exhibiting symptoms of aberrant behavior. Identifying the difference between the occasional bout of poor judgment and a personality disorder is strikingly difficult in these early stages. After all, writes Cleckley, "Do we not...have to admit that all of us behave at times with something short of rationality and good judgment?"
Yet another difficulty arises among psychiatrists in the defi
The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So-Called Psychopathic Personalit