Madness: Stories of Uncertainty and Hope

Ho ricevuto due copie di questo libro separatamente !!

I came across this book by accident, if I may refer to Amazon’s Algorithms as an accident. I mention this upfront as this positive review is intended to be helpful to the potential reader, not the ratings of the author, whom I have met. The book is beautifully written (and illustrated), deeply interesting, very helpful, insightful and which traverses a wide range (just look at the Contents Page to see this), based on a lifetime’s work. A book full of compassion, wisdom, pathos, and sometimes humour. It is a book which belongs on the bookshelf not only of doctors but parents, family and friends of those who suffer from mental illness. Dr Sean Baumann (SB) was my son’s doctor in those early days, decades ago, when everything about his schizophrenia seemed so bleak and hopeless. How things changed over time, reinforcing the point SB makes about the importance of never giving up hope.I read this book slowly, generally a chapter at a sitting. It is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book which had me reflecting at length on various aspects as explored in the chapters. I enjoyed the reviews of medical and neurobiological aspects; philosophical explorations of our paradigms of illness and the implications of our diagnostic constructs; of real people case studies; the exceptionally insightful and gentle attempts to explain the subjective experience of schizophrenia as expressed by his patients, both for himself in his work and here for the reader.At the risk of sounding patronizing, or of revealing my stereotype of medical experts as narrowly-focused, I was intrigued by SB’s command of the English language, his comments on the colonial history of the location of Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital in Cape Town, this in the context of his use of metaphors of separation (examples: the river running alongside the hospital as a modern-day separation and gulf between the sane and insane; of the old Royal Observatory neighbouring the hospital as man’s search for meaning in the Cosmos, while inside the hospital is the desperate search of patients to make sense of their inner worlds).At points in the book SB reveals some of his own personal journey. I had been quite unaware that he had prior to studying medicine taken a liberal arts degree in English Literature and in Philosophy. The book is rich in these perspectives, which have informed his life’s work (and his use of language which one Reviewer disparages as “over the top English”). He raises Existential (my word) questions about the meaning of madness; his delightful (scornful? cynical?) quoting of Jung had me laughing out loud.Decades back, I had experienced SB as a quiet, thoughtful and calm man in the midst of an extremely busy hospital with the attendant floral drama of the Admissions Ward. It was thus with interest that I read his reflections of his experiences, his thoughts and feelings while he would drive home after a long day’s work; or of incidents in his life which provided him with insights into his patients; of mistakes and misjudgments he had made; of the ethical choices facing doctors. In this the book is refreshing for both its humanity and humility. SB’s life-long advocacy for the rights of those suffering from mental illness is visible throughout the book. He is forthright and courageous in expressing his outrage at a recent tragic and shocking incident in our country, currently the subject of an Inquest, arising from a callous, criminally-stupid policy decision (my words) taken by short-sighted politicians regarding the treatment of hundreds of mentally ill patients.SB’s private thoughts when watching outlandish, caricature portrayals of madness in theatre and films, and the effects these portrayals have on those suffering from mental illness via the popular imagination, gave further pause for thought. As did his comments about the term “madness”, how loosely and unthinkingly we may use the term in our everyday speech, and why he chose to use the word as the title for his book.I heartily commend this book to a wide audience. It is absorbing, educational, compassionate, challenging and hopeful. It is in my view a brilliant survey of the experience that many suffer under and which so few of us understand.

The author gives the reader glimpses into the minds of his patients. He explains that schizophrenia can be treated as long as the patients take their meds, which they often do not. Along with the problems of mental illness, many of his South African patients have to deal with extreme poverty, high unemployment rates and substance abuse. It is a very interesting read. I learned a lot about mental illnesses.

I read the first few chapters, thinking that this must be a young psychiatrist that wrote this book with his over the top EnglishSome chapters that I scanned through mentioned no patients or illnesses, and if an illness was mentioned it was always schizophrenia.Lastly, and most importantly, do not use madness. End the stigma. It is bipolar, depression, borderline. They used to burn us “witches” because we were “mad”