An Analysis Of Kay Jamison 's ' An Unquiet Mind '

Although it is talked about frequently in today's society with really no expertise which brings a misunderstanding to the whole illness. When finishing this novel it became clear that in addition to my definition, Bipolar makes an individual suffer extreme highs and lows within their daily lifestyle unable to control when the episodes switch. In addition, I learned how the episodes affect individuals differently and there are ranges usually including a type of rage or aggression when manic and depressed. Unquiet Mind did not change my understanding for Bipolar Disorder, but it did enhance details I was not completely aware of. Furthermore with this disorder, Bipolar affects the person and the people in their lives dramatically. For example, Kay’s education and lifestyle of striving to be the best got put to a halt several times within the start of her career due to her episodes not allowing her to concentrate. On the other hand, her high manic episodes ended significant relations with men that could not deal with her pains. She stated when discussing her difficult times that, “no amount of love can cure madness or unblacken one's dark moods. Love can help, it can make the pain more tolerable, but, always, one is beholden to medication that may or may not always work and may or may not be bearable” (Jamison 155). It is a hidden battle to walk through

This is my life with bipolar disorder. At the age of 15, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder II. As a sophomore student in High School, I constantly worried how my mood shifts will affect my abilities to perform in the classroom. On top of balancing school, sports, and a social life, I worried about how my hypomania and depression would affect my body.

Given her accreditation and awards for her work in her community, as well as her literature, it is easy to see why she continues to make an impact in her field. Throughout her college career, and thereafter, she has made monumental influences in the lives of others through her research. Moreover, her knowledge of those who have disorders helps people understand that she truly does know what they are going through. Jamison was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was 28 years old. Not only does this allow her to empathize with others by allowing her to walk in the same shoes as them, she is still able to perform her duties as a psychologist. Not only does she understand others with bipolar disorder, she understands how she affects others with her disorder. Some may think that by “outing” herself as having a mood disorder, she may have hindered her career. In fact, it

In her book, An Unquiet Mind, Kay Jamison instills an understanding of bipolar disorder from two opposing perspectives. Initially, Jameson tells a tale of herself as a long-term victim of bipolar. It is from her description that a reader is highlighted about the various avenues through which the condition attacks. Besides exploring the disorder as the victim, the book as well depicts Jamison as the healed. That is, she gives an account of her life as an individual who survived the grips of bipolar disorder and became a healer (psychotherapist and a lecturer) instead. Reflecting on Jamison’s work An Unquiet Mind automatically triggers the desire of the reader to unearth more about the author, her context, and diagnosis of the bipolar disorder.

Mental illness has plagued human kind for as long as we have been on this earth. The science of psychology has made great strides in past century. The stigma of being mentally ill has begun to fall away and people are finally starting to get the help that they need to recover. Bipolar disorder is one illness that we have come to more fully understand. Through assistance from a psychiatrist, family and medication a patient with bipolar disorder can enter remission and live a normal life.

Bipolar disorder is a manic-depressive lifelong illness in the brain that causes shifts in mood, energy, activity, and the ability to carry out normal tasks, but efficient treatment helps people to manage these complications and normalize their daily lives. This illness is a very serious mental disease affecting about 2.6 percent of adults in the United States that has the power to cause risky behavior and even suicidal tendencies if not treated (www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml). It is more common in older teens and young adults, but it affects children as young as six years old. It affects men and women, all races, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic classes equally but women experience more periods of depression than

I was your average "girl next door." I was always busy with school, work, activities, and an active social life. I pushed my limits and at times would get depressed, but I always hid behind a smile. Other than feeling lonely at times, I was unaware that anything was deeply wrong with me.

story in a memoir titled Madness: A Bipolar Life, in an attempt to shed some light and insight on the

Kay Redfield Jamison, an American clinical psychologist and author published one of her books An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness in 1995. The book, as the title describes, is an emotionally moving memoir of emotions. Jamison has had bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness, since her young adulthood and An Unquiet Mind unapologetically takes readers through the roller coaster of which is her life. Albeit bipolar disorder is hard to understand without having it, this memoir gives an honest yet informative understanding of Jamison’s personal experience with manic-depressive illness. From her early childhood to the peaks of her illness, An Unquiet Mind shows the perspective of an otherwise perplexing disorder

In her memoir, “Madness“, Marya Hornbacher  takes  the reader on  a journey  of her life with  Type I rapid cycle bipolar disorder. She explains the disorder as “when you are mad, mad like this, you don’t know it. Reality is what you see. When what you see shifts, departing from anyone else’s reality, it’s still reality to you” (Hornbacher, page 118).

The book Crazy, was an interesting, and informative non-fiction book, about the struggles mental health patients and their family members encounter. Pete Earley starts off the story talking about his son Mike, who started to act strangely in his senior year of high school. It turned out that he would be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and was prescribed medication. Mike thought he was fine, therefore would frequently stop taking his medications. When Mike was in the hospital, he refused treatment, and because he was not a danger to himself, a danger to others, or gravely disabled, the doctors could not force him into treatment. Because, Mike stops taking his medications, his symptoms got worse. Pete discusses a time that Mike was manic,

This book was very inspirational. It is not only inspiring to people with bipolar disorder but to all other people that are suffering from any kind of mental illness. It also speaks to people that do not have a mental illness by giving them and inside look of what someone’s life is like and how they deal with their problems. The book shows how not only is life possible with mental illness but that it is also worth living.

The struggle with the manic-depressive illness got much worse during her college years. At one point she even thought about seeking guidance for her issues, but could not get herself to follow through with it. There wasn’t another thought of getting some help for years to come. Jamison made the decision to switch to clinical psychology during graduate school where she first began learning how to diagnose psychiatric patients. Not once did she make the connection of the symptoms of these constructs to the symptoms she was personally experiencing, although she did realize that she was more comfortable making diagnoses than her colleagues were. When learning about diseases, some people automatically think that they have that illness if they have experienced any of the listed symptoms. However, Jamison was the complete

Before I truly understood Bipolar disorder, it was still a fairly common word in my vocabulary. Anytime I thought someone was being moody or fluctuating between emotions, I joked by claiming that person to be bipolar. Several incidents of this involved one of my roommates who seemed to be happy one day, and quite the polar opposite the next. However, it was not until my clinical experience on the psychiatric unit that I realized what true bipolar disorder was, and that she did not fit the criteria. Even though I always thought my roommate was bipolar, I quickly found after being exposed to a diagnosed bipolar patient that my roommate was instead just moody. I decided to write this paper on bipolar disorder, not because I have struggle with it or know a friend or family member with this disease, but because I had several misconceptions about what it entailed.

My older sister served as my introduction to the mysteries and miseries of mental illness. She suffered from Bipolar Disorder, and it was clear my parents despaired at her condition. There was much acting out, at least one suicide attempt that I am aware of, multiple stays at inpatient facilities, and an ever-changing cocktail of medications throughout her teens. She tapered off meds when she planned to start