On Madness

At a crucial point in her life, Lea De Gregorio goes ‘mad’. A glut of thoughts spirals out of control in her head, she is beset by countless questions and completely unable to sleep. And then comes the next step in the progression of a mental illness here in Germany: she’s admitted to a psychiatric ward for treatment. But before healing comes disempowerment. On the ward, she has no say about what happens to her, indeed she has no voice at all. Does she truly have to acquiesce to this traditional hierarchy in order to get better? Or is it more important than ever to interrogate these structures? She sets out on a search for fundamental answers, a search that leads her to confront historical and linguistic taboos, to engage with philosophy, and ultimately to become an activist. Fighting against the exclusion and discrimination of the ‘mad’, a minority that has been ignored for far too long.

Lea De Gregorio lays bare the long-standing injustices in our thinking, and in our emotions and actions. On Madness delivers an urgently needed critique of psychiatry and society. In a language that is so clear and clever and tender that it might just bring about a substantial shift in the way we treat each other.