The key ideas

An Unquiet Mind

Kay Redfield Jamison, 1995

She studied manic-depressive illness and spent years hiding that she had it herself. Kay Jamison describes how mania can feel like brilliance, why depression is unlike sadness, and why she repeatedly stopped treatment herself. An honest story about illness, shame, love, and the decision to stop staying silent.

Who it is for

For anyone who wants to understand how bipolar disorder may feel from within, for people close to someone with the illness, and for anyone interested in how a specialist sees her own illness.

No pill can help me deal with not wanting to take pills; likewise, no psychotherapy on its own can prevent my manias and depressions. I need both.

What the book is about

A young psychiatry teacher at the University of California, Los Angeles, feels brilliant. Thoughts fly, there is energy for everything, and she hardly wants to sleep. Colleagues can already see trouble from the outside. She cannot see it yet.

Kay Redfield Jamison is a clinical psychologist who became a prominent researcher of manic-depressive illness. For years, she hid that she had it herself. In 1995, she told her story in a memoir. How can a specialist fail to notice illness in herself for so long? The answer lies in her story. Another question runs throughout the book: where does illness end and “this is just me” begin?

An important point first: this is one person’s life story rather than a textbook or treatment guide. The book helps you understand but does not diagnose you or your loved ones. If thoughts of harming yourself arise, seek emergency help immediately.

Idea 1. The first high

Jamison grew up in a military family: her father was a meteorologist in the US Air Force. She describes him as vivid, enthusiastic, and subject to strong mood swings.

The first episode of illness came in her final year of high school. First a high: racing thoughts and a sense that everything was possible. Then a severe, prolonged low. She says nobody around her understood what was happening. She herself explained it as personality and youth.

Later, she would recognize similarities between her father’s swings and her illness. But she considers this one possible thread rather than proof of a cause.

A teenager is unstoppable at times, then cannot get out of bed for weeks, while adults put it all down to age.

In Jamison’s story, the first signs resembled “just personality.” Sharp changes in mood, sleep, and energy therefore raise questions about someone’s condition rather than invite labels.

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About the author

Kay Redfield Jamison is an American clinical psychologist and professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University. She coauthored a major textbook on manic-depressive illness (1990). An Unquiet Mind is her memoir of her own life with the illness.

All books by this author: Kay Redfield Jamison

Terms from the book

  • Depression
  • Psychotherapy
  • Manic-depressive illness: The older name for the illness that the author prefers. Modern classifications, DSM-5 and ICD-11, use “bipolar disorder,” a name also used when the book appeared. Only a doctor can make a diagnosis.
  • Mania: A state of intense elevation: racing thoughts, little sleep, abundant energy, and risky actions. It may involve irritability and confusion.
  • Lithium: The medication the author took. Mentioned here as part of her story; only a doctor can prescribe or change treatment.

All terms

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