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Actress Hannah Murray Publishes Memoir on Cult Psychosis

6/26/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Hannah Murray released the memoir *The Make-Believe*, recounting her 2017 psychotic break after a wellness cult.
She retired from acting and spent seven years writing the book, producing over 100,000 words.
Murray says accuracy was her main goal, noting that readers with psychosis find the memoir accurate.
She now avoids meditation and yoga, favors walking and journaling, watches little TV, and has no acting plans.

History

Historical Context

The American Psychiatric Association’s 1980 release of DSM-III, chaired by psychiatrist Robert Spitzer, listed 265 diagnoses across 494 pages and introduced symptom-based criteria to improve reliability after critiques such as the Rosenhan experiment. The new manual reshaped diagnostic practice, a legacy that underlies Hannah Murray’s 2024 memoir about a 2017 psychotic break and current demands for factual accuracy.

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Story summary

Hannah Murray released the memoir *The Make-Believe*, recounting her 2017 psychotic break after a wellness cult.
She retired from acting and spent seven years writing the book, producing over 100,000 words.
Murray says accuracy was her main goal, noting that readers with psychosis find the memoir accurate.
She now avoids meditation and yoga, favors walking and journaling, watches little TV, and has no acting plans.

1 / 2