Walking down the street, everyone seems to go about their business, not taking the time to look at others around them and see the potential suffering that could be occurring. While reading Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison, it became clear how frightful it is to travel through life with Bipolar disorder. Kay began as a child growing up within a household of mental illness without knowledge until she was much older. Yet at the age of fifteen she did know that her sister had an “enormous artistic imagination and soul” (Jamison 15). This included having raging anger at different times co-occurring with her father's increased negative behavior of depression, rage and drinking after he retired and they moved. In California, Kay had to recreate …show more content…
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 …show more content…
In pop culture Bipolar Disorder is described as someone quickly switching emotions. The term gets flown around easily without evidence of the alleged diagnosis. This publication changed my perspective on mental illness due to always hearing society's opinion on the phrase. Kay’s experience shows an individual who suffered tremendously behind doors that no one else could relate to, having episodes last days to months not switching every minute like society's stereotypes. It is obvious that there is not control and while medication helps, there is a significant consequence when missing treatment. Additionally, material learned within this book can help fundamentally determine someone suffering this illness. For example, if someone has manic highs and lows that force them to change their daily lifestyle for a period of time and developes changing impulsive decisions there could be an underlying illness. Even though there are few details that can fall into the category of Bipolar, it is still rare and unless diagnosed by a doctor one should never jump to conclusions about another
Kay Redfield Jamison is a caucasian female who is a professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University. She is currently 70 years old and published her novel An Unquiet Mind about her bipolar disorder in 1995. Her father was an Air Force officer, who eventually struggled with alcoholism, depression, and anger issues after the family moved to California. Her sister also has struggled with mental illness, likely bipolar disorder as well. Her mother and brother both do not suffer from any kind of mental illness. As a child, her and her family often travelled to a variety of military bases due to her father’s service. She lived in Washington for a
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
Forney’s suffering arises not just from the symptoms of her bipolar disorder, but from the self-isolation that results from her fear of losing her creativity. After her diagnosis, Forney characterizes herself as a “rock star” cheerfully eating an energy bar and casually tossing Klonopin into her mouth (28). With the same carelessness, she begins reading Kay Jamison’s memoir, a story by a psychologist who suffers from the same disorder as she. Here, Forney’s face shows a dismissive skepticism, betraying her adamant refusal to let her disorder “dictate everything in [her] life” (27-28). Her reasons for this refusal become readily apparent when we
story in a memoir titled Madness: A Bipolar Life, in an attempt to shed some light and insight on the
In this book, we are presented with the mental illness named ‘Manic Depression’ in which Mark was faced with as a freshman in college. Manic Depression is most commonly known as ‘Bipolar Illness’ and is usually confused with schizophrenia and unipolar depression. It causes huge shifts in mood, energy, thinking, and behavior. The manic depressive may have multiple mania behaviors at a time and depression the next second. For example, in the book, Mark showed one of the biggest signs of the bipolar disorder, uncontrolled sleepiness. This usually marks the beginning of a manic depressive episode which causes the person to become a total stranger to others. Manic depression can cause huge sex drives in the person that might even exhaust his/her partner. It can cause moods, such as fatigue, delusions,
The stigma associated with bipolar disorder is unacceptable. The purpose of this paper is to improve the readers ability to understand what bipolar disorder is and how being diagnosed with this disorder affects all facets of daily living. Family, friends and associates of individuals with bipolar disorder are often affected as well. As a result of the stigma associated with the disorder, the effects remain: often multiplied by individuals that have a limited understanding of the disorder. There are numerous myths related to individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Hopefully a few of these myths will be put to rest after learning more about the disorder.
This paper is a fictional first person account of what my life would be like if I had been diagnosed with bipolar II disorder during my freshman year of college. This account will explore the interpersonal, environmental, and developmental effects this mental illness would have had on me as well as how my life course would have changed. Scholarly articles, the DSM 5, and my education in both the psychology and social work field influenced the depiction of bipolar II disorder presented. This paper will also focus on types of treatment and therapeutic relationships that I would find helpful if I was diagnosed with this mental illness.
Bipolar disorder is typically a condition that affects people in their late teens and early adulthood. It is usually not thought to affect a child but it is something that, if present at a young age, can seriously affect the way a child grows up. Bipolar disorder affects every aspect of a person’s life and is not as understood as it should be. Researchers are still looking for the cause of this illness and how it can be treated but overall it is a condition that many people are undereducated on and that is something I’m hoping this paper might be able to change for some.
There is a dark stigma surrounding mental illness in general, and bipolar disorder is no exception. According to the Mental Health Commission of Western Australia, a stigma is “a mark of disgrace that sets someone apart.” Bipolar disorder is incredibly misunderstood by society at large, which leads to this stigma, prejudice, and discrimination. In everyday conversation, the word “bipolar” is frequently used to describe how someone is feeling at that moment. If a person is sad one moment and
This project will look at the character, Dr. Kay Jamison, from the autobiography, “An Unquiet
The author, Kay Jamison talks about her life with bipolar I disorder in her book, An Unquiet Mind. Jamison was a Caucasian woman who at the age of forty seven wrote this memoir. Currently she is seventy years old and dealing with her disorder. She spent her life moving around a lot because her father was an air force pilot. She grew up with an older brother who was very caring and an older sister that she bumped heads with. Kay’s father was a really delightful person. His emotions were contagious. Her mother was always helpful and caring for her family no matter how busy she was. Kay’s parents were supporting in all her interests; such as pets, poetry, science, and medicine. When she was fifteen, things took a turn and her family moved to California for her father’s new job as a scientist. Her father began to show worsening signs of depression. Around the age of sixteen, Kay realized that she was having mood swings that were very drastic. In her senior year of high school, she had her first manic depressive attack. She started her undergraduate study at UCLA dealing with her constant depression and manic episodes. As she was studying as an undergraduate, Kay began to take an interest in psychology. She pursued her PhD in psychology at UCLA again studying mood disorders. As a graduate student, she also began working in the psychiatric ward and dealing with marital problems in her first marriage. She was slowly spiraling out of control until she had a terrifying
As expressed in the documentary, bipolar disorder is a very misunderstood mental illness, and I was surely one of those who truly didn’t understand it. One fact that I learned was how the change from manic states to depressive ones are not easy gentle
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.