“Let Me Not Be Mad: My Story of Unraveling Minds” by A. K. Benjamin: Publisher virtually identifies author, so why the use of a pseudonym?

The review I have just read in the New York Times (1) raises, but does not answer, the following questions: Why does the author use a pseudonym? What is the author’s obtrusive mental problem?

Pseudonym

The review says that the author is a “British clinical neuropsychologist” (1). And since patients will be discussed, you might think that the author is using a pseudonym to protect patient confidentiality. But the unique biography provided by the publisher (2) would make the author easily identifiable.

Author’s Mental Illness

The review, following the example of the book’s title, which uses the almost meaningless, nonspecific term “mad,” considers the author to be mad, but makes no attempt to understand his specific problem.

Comment

The book review doesn’t provide enough information about the author for me to make a diagnosis. All I can do is discuss two interesting symptoms: He uses a pseudonym. And “His signature suddenly changes” (1).

Both of these symptoms suggest alternate identities. In multiple personality, the names of alternate personalities are pseudonyms. And in some cases, different personalities have different handwritings.

Multiple personality is more common in fiction writers. So, I wondered, other than writing this memoir, does the author have any history of fiction writing?

The review notes that when a patient stops coming to appointments, the author imagines what is happening in the patient’s life and fills a whole journal (1).

And the publisher’s biography says that before the author became a neuropsychologist, he was a screenwriter (2).

1.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/books/review-let-me-not-be-mad-a-k-benjamin.html

2.  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2195934/a-k-benjamin/