USA Africa Dialogue Series - An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

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An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness 

Kay Redfield Jamison (Author)           

From Library Journal

This incredibly insightful work chronicles the life of a psychologist and professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University who suffers from manic depression. Jamison began experiencing mood swings during adolescence but, despite her education and training, did not seek help until she had completed her doctorate and began teaching at UCLA. Like so many others suffering from manic depression, she felt initially that the depressions were only passing phases she'd have to work out herself. She experienced the manic phases as great periods of creativity and accomplishment and feared they would be deadened by using medication. (In an earlier book, Touched with Fire, LJ 2/15/93, Jamison explored the relationship between manic depression and creativity.) Jamison finally comes to grips with her illness and recognizes the importance of medication used in conjunction with psychotherapy. This combination of treatment controls her illness and has enabled her to succeed. Her story and writing style are both inspirational and educational. Highly recommended for all libraries.  Jennifer Amador, Central State Hosp. Medical Lib., Petersburg, Va. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. 

From the Inside Flap

As a founder of UCLA's Affective Disorder Clinic and a co-author of a standard medical text, Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison may be the foremost authority on manic-depressive illness. She is also one of its survivors. And it is this dual perspective -- as healer and healed -- that makes Jamison's memoir so lucid, learned, and profoundly affecting.

Even as she was pursuing her psychiatric training, Jamison found herself succumbing to the exhilarating highs and paralyzing lows that afflicted many of her patients. Though the disorder brought her seemingly boundless energy and mercurial creativity, it also propelled her into spending sprees, episodes of violence, and an attempt at suicide.

Powerfully candid, exceptionally wise, An Unquiet Mind is one of those rare books that has the power to transform lives -- and even save them.

From the Publisher

"It stands alone in the literature of manic depression for its bravery, brilliance and beauty."
--Oliver Sacks

"The most emotionally moving book I've ever read about emotions."
--William Safire, The New York Times Magazine

"An invaluable memoir of manic depression, at once medically knowledgeable, deeply human, and beautifully written ... at times poetic, at times straightforward, always unashamedly honest."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Written with poetic and moving sensitivity ... a rare and insightful view of mental illness from inside the mind of a trained specialist."
--Time

"A distinguished addition to the literature of mental illness, worthy of comparison to the classics in the genre, such as William Styron's Darkness Visible."
--Newark Star-Ledger

Reviews:

"Over the past 20 years I've had several friends who suffered from manic-depressive illnesses. It's abundantly clear to me that the disease is primarily biochemical and "not their fault." But I had trouble understanding why these people refused to take their medication (or stopped taking it after they started) and otherwise engaged in massive denial. Jamison's frank and well-written book was a revelation: now I feel I have a better sense of the seductiveness of mania, and why creative, intelligent people are often willing to risk the lows of their illness for the sake of the highs. As Jamison points out emphatically, however, the long-term effects of bipolar disorder can be devastating mentally and physically (not to mention the financial and personal fallout) -- hence her crusade to understand the basis of the illness, and learn how to fine-tune the medication so that the sufferer achieves equilibrium without deadening the sensitivity and creativity that often accompany this disease. I'd already read "Night Falls Fast," which is also excellent, but this book set out the personal story behind Jamison's research interests. While she insists that love alone won't cure the disease, it's also clear that, without the love of her loyal friends, this intelligent, talented, and articulate woman might never have made it through the more difficult years, let alone become a respected authority in her profession. Anyone who suffers from bipolar disorders, and those who love them, should read this book."-- A customer from Amazon.

"I picked this book up wondering how a Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins with a history of manic-depression managed to deal with the mental anguish and turmoil that such a disorder brings and -- not just, survive, but thrive -- to become a respected and noted authority on the subject! Amazing! Dr. Jamison offers readers an honest, sincere memoir of her young academic years at UCLA and in Scotland where she was trying to figure out how to make it from one day to the next amid the emotional highs and dark, suicidal lows brought on by her illness. She candidly discusses the feelings that often lead such individuals to over-spend, go without sleep, engage in risky personal relationships and not want to or easily adjust to taking Lithium. She then goes on to describe her middle-age professional years at UCLA, a year-long sabbatical in London and at Oxford, and how she managed the difficult balancing act of surviving her personal life while balancing research, publication and teaching during the day. She describes the difficulty she faced over-and-again, in admitting her medical condition to the men she dated and loved and the impact her illness had on these relationships and her medical peers at work. This is an up-lifting, positive and hopeful book for those with a friend, spouse or family member suffering with this type of illness. Written in a warm, conversational style -- you can't help but say Bravo! when -- near the end -- where Dr. Jamison is once again informing a medical supervisor of her plight, she writes: [the doctor from Johns Hopkins] "reached across the table, put his hand on mine, and ...said, 'I KNOW you have a manic-depressive illness.' He paused, then laughed, 'If we got rid of all the manic-depressives on the medical school faculty, not only would we have a much smaller faculty, it would also be a far more boring one.'" Indeed. Highly recommended for both public and college/university library collections."-- R. Neil Scott , Middle Tennessee State University.  

"As a psychiatrist I've read it during my fellow. It's a great book for patients, family and mental health professionals. It's not just about the disease, an inspiring individual. Highly recommended, Thanks for the courage to write it!!!." ---C. Alvarez.

"This book will give you a new (and much needed) perspective on how someone with bi-polar not only views life, but also the extreme difference in how they sometimes experience life! If you're looking for a better understanding or how to better relate to someone who has bi-polar, I highly recommend this book!"--K.Erwin

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