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An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

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'An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness' by Kay Redfield Jamison is a poignant memoir chronicling the author's struggles with bipolar disorder. Through a dual perspective of a patient and a practitioner, Jamison delves into the terrors and allure of manic depression, highlighting her battles with highs and lows, professional success, and personal relationships. The writing style is raw and poetic, offering insights into the complexities of living with mental illness while navigating through personal and professional challenges.

The book provides a unique account of bipolar disorder, blending personal narrative with clinical expertise to create a compelling and informative read. Jamison's candor, vividness, and wisdom shine through the pages, transforming the lives of readers by shedding light on the realities of mental illness and the importance of seeking treatment. It touches upon themes of courage, resilience, and the power of unconditional support in the face of stigma and misunderstanding surrounding mental health.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is raw and honest, blending vivid emotional descriptions with a poetic touch that engages readers deeply.

Plot/Storyline:

The narrative chronicles the author's personal experiences with bipolar disorder, detailing the challenges and insights gained from both personal and professional perspectives.

Setting:

The setting encompasses both the author's personal and professional environments, reflecting a lifetime of experiences with bipolar disorder.

Pacing:

The pacing of the memoir is generally steady but can vary with moments of reflection, resulting in a blend of introspection and narrative.
I was standing with my head back, one pigtail caught between my teeth, listening to the jet overhead. The noise was loud, unusually so, which meant that it was close. My elementary school was near And...

Notes:

The author, Kay Redfield Jamison, is both a clinical psychologist and a patient with bipolar disorder.
She started experiencing symptoms of bipolar disorder in her late teens.
Jamison writes vividly and candidly about her manic highs and depressive lows.
Her perspective combines personal experience and professional insight in the field of mental health.
Despite her successes, Jamison struggled with the stigma associated with her diagnosis.
She initially resisted medication, associating it with weakness.
Lithium was one of the medications she was prescribed, despite its side effects like nausea.
Jamison emphasizes the dual challenges of managing her mental illness and her professional responsibilities.
The memoir discusses the difficulty of maintaining relationships while dealing with mental illness.
Jamison prefers the term 'manic depressive illness' over 'bipolar disorder' for its accuracy.
She talks about the fear of hospitalization and its implications on her career.
The book highlights the often misunderstood feelings of mania and depression, capturing their 'terrifying allure.'
Jamison reflects on the complexity of love and mental illness, describing a relationship that offered her support during recovery.
She warns of the stigma in the medical community that can deter practitioners with mental illness from seeking help.
The book serves as a beacon for those struggling with similar issues, highlighting both hope and the challenges of bipolar disorder.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

The book includes content warnings for discussions of mental illness, episodes of depression and mania, suicide, medication side effects, and personal trauma.

From The Publisher:

WITH A NEW PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR

In her bestselling classic, An Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison changed the way we think about moods and madness.

Dr. Jamison is one of the foremost authorities on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness; she has also experienced it firsthand. For even while she was pursuing her career in academic medicine, Jamison found herself succumbing to the same exhilarating highs and catastrophic depressions that afflicted many of her patients, as her disorder launched her into ruinous spending sprees, episodes of violence, and an attempted suicide.

Here Jamison examines bipolar illness from the dual perspectives of the healer and the healed, revealing both its terrors and the cruel allure that at times prompted her to resist taking medication. An Unquiet Mind is a memoir of enormous candor, vividness, and wisdom-a deeply powerful book that has both transformed and saved lives.

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About the Author:

KAY REDFIELD JAMISON is a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as well as an honorary professor of English at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is the author of the national best sellers An Unquiet Mind, Night Falls Fast, and Touched with Fire. She is coauthor of the standard medical text on manic-depressive illness and author or coauthor of more than one hundred scientific papers about mood disorders, creativity, and psychopharmacology. Dr. Jamison, the recipient of numerous national and international scientific awards, is a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow.

 
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