A Primer on Mental Illness

Because this novel includes a close look into the minds of both a psychopath and an agoraphobe, it acts as a sort of primer on mental illness, describing the reasons why these illnesses may develop as well as their symptoms and the effects they have on a person’s life. Anna suffers agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and severe anxiety while Ethan has been diagnosed as a psychopath. The novel gives the reader information about how people with these mental illnesses live their day-to-day lives and how they think.

Anna’s disorder developed as the result of a significant occurrence while Ethan’s personality disorder did not develop as the result of only one occurrence. Anna became agoraphobic after she and her family were in a car wreck in the mountains during a snowstorm. Because their wrecked car was hidden from sight and...