An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

Abstract

Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, is touched with fire. She has made manic-depressive disorder the centerpiece of a remarkable clinical and academic career. She coauthored<i>Manic Depressive Illness</i>and a fascinating book,<i>Touched With Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament</i>. She caps this progression from the clinical study of bipolar disease to delineating its cultural significance with this revealing monograph about her experience as a person who has manic-depressive illness. Like her other work, the writing is clear, often lyrical, and a pleasure to read. <i>An Unquiet Mind</i>opens two doors. It is a uniquely informed account of the experience of manic-depressive disorder. It is also an account of how a physician, her psychiatrists, and her departments handled the issues of professional competence for this sometimes and always potentially disabling illness. Dr Jamison depicts the personal experience of manic-depressive illness as a part