Book Review: Madness by Sean Baumann

Format: ebook
Published: April 1st, 2020
Age: Adult
Genre: Non-Fiction – Psychology

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Sean Baumann worked as a psychiatrist at Valkenberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, and in Madness: Stories of Uncertainty and Hope, he highlights the experiences of his patients, often in their own words, to try and convey the realities of their lived experiences. What I really appreciated about the book was the way Baumann approaches mental health; he’s quite open about the realities of the system he’s working in, highlighting the issues they face when dealing with patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental health issues, and keeps a compassionate, respectful tone throughout when discussing the patients.

As expected, this book comes with a lot of darkness. Baumann also uses the words of patient’s families to convey the impact on them, often alongside those of the patients, offering what can feel like a contrasting view, but highlights the difficulties experienced by everyone in these situations. He does this with compassion, and also spends time explaining his reasoning behind the book and artwork used, as well as his general reaction to portrayals of ‘madness’ in the arts. This is the word I keep coming back to when thinking of this book – compassion. And though a big focus of the book is the impact these disorders have on those affected, Baumann also ensures to highlight the individual personalities of his patients, the way they help each other, and even the rare moments of beauty and humour that come with life working in the hospital.

Baumann very much feels like someone who wishes he could do more for his patients, and as mentioned above he recognises the issues in the system they all find themselves in, the constraints of what can and can’t be done to help. There’s a sense of frustration to this, but ultimately what Baumann tries to convey is how little we truly understand the human brain, and the many, many ways it can function, highlighting the influence society and background can have on mental health, while also showing how, at times, even with advantages, someone can suffer from the kind of disorders discussed within the book.

Overall, I think this is a really well thought out, well put together memoir exploring psychology and giving a valuable insight into some of the most widely misunderstood mental health disorders.

Reading Challenge
Be curious – Non-Fiction Challenge 2025
Prompt: Medicine – Saving lives – or doing harm?
Progress: 1/12