Have you ever found yourself consumed by the world around you and found a fascination in every detail about the people in it and the way they function?
Greek Australian author and journalist of over 25 years, Georgia Cassimatis has released a new book all about exploring the world of mental health.
The Psychiatrist’s Waiting Room: Behind The Secretary’s Door is the second addition to her book collection and focuses on a series of short stories that explore themes of mental health, self-discovery and conflict.
“I’ve grown up in the world of mental health and worked as a secretary on and off for my dad [who is a psychiatrist] for many years, especially while I was in university,” Georgia told The Greek Herald.
“After being in that space for so long, I discovered that there is a world where a relationship forms between the patient and the secretary before they go into the door and see the psychiatrist, and the secretary can become like a therapist.
“This was written as an insight into people’s lives, and I made it into a novella, which is like a short form novel.”
What is the book about?
The book is all about raising awareness on mental health through the lens of various characters, their experiences, and emotional struggles.
“It’s based on a secretary who starts working for the first time for a psychiatrist, and she’s on the coalface of mental health,” Georgia said.
“The story is about her relationship with 30 patients over a 30-month period, and it’s an insight into all the various illnesses of different characters, without really mentioning what the illnesses are.”
Georgia added that the book goes into themes of PTSD, trauma, alcoholism, sobriety, ADHD, Asperger’s, autism, addiction, bipolar disorder and erotomania.
“It involves experiences like people having nervous breakdowns through maybe losing a job, and having nervous breakdowns through breakups in relationships and marriages etc.,” she explained.
“Each character gives insight into all of those various cross sections of trauma, mental health and mental illnesses.”
Shaped by personal experience
Georgia revealed that her book was originally going to be an academic journal for university students, however after having lots of fun creating the characters and writing about their personalities and mental illnesses, she decided to create a fictional book based on her “lived experience.”
“I sort of just took bits and pieces from things I had seen, lived through and heard from more than 40 years of growing up in the world of mental health, and I developed a character out of it,” she said.
“I wanted to shed some light on what people really go through once they enter the waiting room of a psychiatrist and it’s based on all that lived experience of having seen hundreds of people go through the door.”
‘The response has been nice’
The Psychiatrist’s Waiting Room: Behind The Secretary’s Door was released in August 2024. Georgia said it’s an inclusive book aimed towards men and women aged 18 to 80.
The Greek Australian author revealed the book has received plenty of positive feedback by people of all ages and backgrounds.
“The response has been really nice,” Georgia said.
“The people that have read it, have been really appreciative that it’s from someone who’s actually worked in mental health, and not an author who may have done research, but has never worked in it and could be making it up.”
Georgia revealed that putting together this book was something she “always wanted to do.”
“I’ve always had it in my mind to write about people and what they go through,” she said.
“I find mental health is, like, my journey—it’s about being connected to and inspired by the deeper world around us. It’s something I’ve always wanted to explore, and I’ve done it now, and it’s out there.”
Georgia said although her book is a one-off, her ultimate goal is to see the ABC, SBS, or Netflix create a TV series adaptation of it in the future.
