Brainwaves: A Memoir About Grief and the Boundary Between This Life and the Next

by Katharina Manassis

Two decades after losing her husband to a sudden brain hemorrhage during the S.A.R.S. crisis, Dr. Manassis experiences a frightening flashback when her son is hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic. An author and psychiatrist, she copes with her traumatic grief by writing about it, creating a poignant, thought-provoking, and ultimately hopeful chronicle of her personal healing journey. It raises important questions about how we treat those at the threshold of life’s conclusion, and how we define meaningful living.

258 pages, Paperback

Published July 11, 2024

About the author

Dr. Katharina Manassis is the author of eight mental health-related books for parents and professionals. She is a retired Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist with two wonderful adult children, one on the autism spectrum.
Career highlights included developing and directing a clinical-research program in Childhood Anxiety Disorders at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto; studying the causes and cognitive behavioral treatment of Anxiety Disorders with over 90 related peer reviewed papers; being a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and supervising numerous graduate students at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and the Institute of Medical Science; and managing a diverse private practice in her home community of Pickering, Ontario.
Since retiring from practice, she continues to write, teach, and volunteer with her church and with Parks Canada.

Reviews

[Katharina Manassis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two decades after losing her husband to a sudden brain hemorrhage during the S.A.R.S. crisis, Dr. Manassis experiences a frightening flashback when her son is hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic. An author and psychiatrist, she copes with her traumatic grief by writing about it, creating a poignant, thought-provoking, and ultimately hopeful chronicle of her personal healing journey. It raises important questions about how we treat those at the threshold of life’s conclusion, and how we define meaningful living.