Holden Caulfield Diagnosis: Psychiatrist Discusses Salinger's Classic Character (VIDEO)

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger was published 62 years ago today. This classic tale of Holden Caulfield, told from the point of view of the protagonist as he looks back on some of his adventures while confined in a psychiatric hospital with an unnamed diagnosis, has sold more than 60 million copies worldwide, and continues to be a high school favorite.

The reclusive author Salinger died in 2010, and a new documentary about him is being released later this year.

As part of a HuffPost Book Club discussion on the book that took place last year, Matthew Erlich, MD, a psychiatrist-researcher at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in the Division of Mental Health Services, told us that Caulfield would probably have been committed to a secure unit as a manic depressive at the time of the book.

However, as he shares in the video above, he might diagnose Holden Caulfield quite differently if he entered his office today.

Check out the video, and read more of our discussions about the book here.