EXCERPT: I recognise him before I see him: the booming voice of Max Kennedy KC is unmistakable. He's a barrister with bipolar disorder who did a stint - a memorable stint - in Acute before transferring to a private hospital.
He's standing behind bars in a barren room: dishevelled, shirt inside out. His pants are missing a belt and sinking dangerously low below his substantial belly. There's a guy in the cell opposite who looks like he's trying to sleep off last night's bender - I think it's him I can smell, but I can't be sure Max's hygiene is up to scratch either.
'Good heavens,' says Max. 'It's the adorable Doctor Quatro!'
The name he gave me in acute. Apparently I remind him of a rock singer from his teenage years.
'Max . . . have you stopped taking your lithium?'
I feel a moment of therapeutic nihilism. We thought we'd convinced him to stay on the drug that keeps him stable enough to hold onto his job and his relationship.
'Dear doctor, don't despair! Devilishly difficult dilemma: damned if I do and damned if I don't.'
This could take a while.
'Definitely dreadful. Drug doing damage. Careering creatinine killing the kidneys!'
'You had to stop the lithium?' I interrupt Max's affirmative, alliterative - and annoyingly long - reply. 'What are you taking instead?'
'A cocktail, dear doctor, dear doctor, dear doctor. A lavishing of lamotrigine, a steady stream of Seroquel and a dash of diazepam.'
I wonder if he's amping it up to get off the driving charges.
'What were you doing when the police picked you up?'
'Followed the police car through the intersection. All those cars stopped and waiting - I'd have been a fool not to take advantage. Don't think the police liked me getting ahead of them. Malicious prosecution.' Max beams. 'Took the shortcut through the park.'

ABOUT 'THE OASIS': Trainee psychiatrist Doctor Hannah Wright has only just got her head above water in the acute psychiatric ward at Menzies Hospital when she's thrown into the deep end of the outpatient clinic. Keen to develop her skills in talking therapies, she finds herself up against a boss who's focused on medication and a senior colleague with a score to settle.

Hannah's fellow first-years face problems of their on-and-off flame Alex is being bullied, Ndidi's marriage is in trouble, Jon feels isolated and Carey is concerned their autism will be a career barrier.

While Hannah comes under pressure to seek therapy herself to confront a traumatic past, her patients' health issues range from OCD to ice addiction, childhood abuse to the mental impact of ageing, and from bad parenting to bad genes. They all come to the Oasis.

MY THOUGHTS: While trainee psychiatrist Hannah Wright learned heaps in the Acute Unit (her experiences are written about in The Glass House), the work she is doing in the Outpatient Clinic is closer to where she sees her future.

I really like Hannah. I like the way she listens and guides patients to their own conclusions rather than just writing out a script and ushering them out the door. She strikes a nice balance between the two: trying to get to the root of the problem, trying not to return the patient to the same set of circumstances that has contributed to their illness but not afraid to prescribe medication to help alleviate the symptoms or their distress.

The thing about psychiatry is that there are no quick fixes, often no fixes at all, just a maintenance program that keeps the patient as well and as able to take back as much of their lives as possible. It takes a team of people to do this and should involve the family/friends of the patient as much as possible. These are the people who have day to day contact with the patient and who are usually first to notice that things may be going wrong - as long as they are not part of the problem of course! - which they often are.

Kudos to Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion for their accuracy in the portrayal of various mental illnesses and their treatments and for their honesty about the barriers the staff face in trying to care for their patients.

Another brilliant ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ read from this talented pair.

#TheOasis #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHORS: Anne Buist is the Chair of Women’s Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and has over 25 years clinical and research experience in perinatal psychiatry. She works with Protective Services and the legal system in cases of abuse, kidnapping, infanticide and murder.
Professor Buist is married to novelist Graeme Simsion and has two children.

Graeme Simsion lives in Melbourne with Anne, and is a frequent traveller, walker, jogger, and drinker of wine and cocktails. He is active in amplifying autistic voices through books, events and social media and has spoken at autism conferences and seminars.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hachette Australia & New Zealand via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Oasis by Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

The Oasis is the second book in the Menzies Mental Health series. As soon as it was available I was right into reading it. I had really loved the first book and was ready to follow Hannah and her fellow first year trainee psychiatrists.

I really like Hannah and her way of treating patients. She is compassionate and caring. Despite her own struggles and some resistance to seeing her own therapist, she is the kind of person I'd want if I had a mental health problem. She is an advocate for more than medical intervention and sees listening and talk therapy as important. She goes the extra mile and sees things through, even if it's risky or ends with really sad news.

I liked her trainee colleagues and the issues they have. Carey springs to mind, they are autistic and they have a great idea about a hazmat suit that helps one of Hannah's patients. Each of Hannah's colleagues have things they are struggling with, yet they work on and do their best. I was interested in them all.

I think Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion have worked really well to produce a very readable book, (be prepared for a lot of characters) that makes us think. And if we can't do it all by ourselves they have a set of questions at the end that help us along. It's a book that makes us think about mental health, its place in society, shows us that the trainee psychiatrists are wounded helpers, yet when they bring the whole of themselves good can happen, even if its not perfect.

I have my fingers crossed that there will be another book in this series when Hannah goes on her next rotation.

Dr Hannah Wight is back, and we are introduced to 3 new patients as she undertakes her psychiatric training! This was the perfect sequel to The Glasshouse, in the same easy to read format. As a healthcare professional, I thoroughly enjoyed how Buist & Simpson portrayed the reality (and complexities) of delivering mental health care.

Thank you to NetGalley & Hachette for this ARC!

“Psychiatry is about sitting with things that are far from perfect. Our patients have often done that all their lives, long before the onset of mental illness. We are their role models. We do the best we can. But we’re not going to win every battle.”

The Oasis is the second book in the Menzies Mental Health series by best-selling husband and wife writing team, Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion. Most chapters are prefaced by a description of the episode that brings a patient to the attention of Menzies Mental Health Team, or a particular incident in the lives of the staff at Menzies Mental Health. That person’s issues are explored, along with ongoing matters, both professional, practical, and personal.

Having gained entry into the Psychiatric training program, Hannah Wright is now a registrar at The Stables, the outpatient clinic of Menzies Mental Health. Concern from the Prof that past experiences may affect her clinical judgement has her finally agreeing to see a therapist to help her deal with unresolved issues from her own childhood trauma. Although, easier said than done…

Hannah encounters a wide variety of patients and conditions, both at the clinic (eventually renamed as the more friendly The Oasis) and on the road with the Critical Assessment & Treatment Team (CATT).

Among those she sees, there are very few quick fixes: the patient almost driven to suicide by the chronic pain, to whom successive practitioners have failed to listen properly, and failed to explain the rationale for certain medications, might be one; perhaps the young man whose treated psychosis is exacerbated by methamphetamine use, and gets a wake-up call when he seriously (if unintentionally) injures his mother, is another; and her non-binary colleague on the autism spectrum comes up with a laterally-thought-out practical solution for getting her philosophy professor incapacitated by severe OCD to therapy.

The anxious treen who runs away from a strict religious family turns out to have more going on that Hannah realises; she wonders if the young woman with borderline personality disorder will ever escape her dysfunctional, toxic, family; both of them strike a chord with Hannah.

A rising star in the electronic music scene comes up against the dinosaur in charge of the Extended Stay Unit, until her biggest fan stages an escape. Her colleague Jon observes that often community treatment orders are issued without a lot of thought, to make sure the patient does what’s good for them, without ever really thinking about how that must feel for the patient: “… the bigger issue of people in power thinking they know what’s best for others.”

Diagnosing the young mother whose husband thinks she’s having an affair is a challenge; is the sixty-four-year-old History teacher, who claims to have been a cold-war spy, delusional, like his colleague thinks? Some cases are hopeful, others heart-breaking, and the brick walls Hannah hits around the couple focussed on IVF, gob-smacking. Sometimes, as with the young mother distressed by emerging memories, they are trying to repair the damage done by quacks.

While The Oasis can be read as a stand-alone, readers should be aware that, as a sequel to The Glasshouse, many characters and cases from that book reappear here, and there are, inevitably, spoilers. Some readers may find the large cast of characters a bit overwhelming, so many balls in the air at once, but this reflects the reality that mental health professionals in training must deal with every day: “The problem of trying to do everything. We want to improve out skills, qualify … And do the paperwork, hit the KPIs, have a life.”

This is also a novel that reminds us that those practitioners charged with the treatment of the ill and vulnerable are themselves human, and despite thorough training and expertise, may be plagued by very human flaws and failings, and their perceptions, attitudes and reactions to their patients’ presenting symptoms may be coloured by their own history.

The banter between the characters is often entertaining; some of the dialogue, and a few last lines (like “a big platter of anchovy toasts”, and “Rosemary’s Baby”) are laugh-out-loud, if blackly, funny. Of course, Buist’s background gives each aspect of the story a ring of authenticity, so this portrayal of mental illness and its treatment, and of the mental-health system, is wholly credible, but also topical, laced with humour and quite thought-provoking.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hachette Australia. & New Zealand