Kay Redfield Jamison
Author of An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
About the Author
Clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison was born on June 22, 1946. She received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is considered one of the foremost experts on bipolar disorder, which she has had since her early adulthood. She is Professor of Psychiatry show more at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a Honorary Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is the author of numerous books including An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness; Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide; and Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Richard Wyatt
Works by Kay Redfield Jamison
Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament (1993) 1,381 copies, 9 reviews
Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire: A Study of Genius, Mania, and Character (2017) 159 copies, 2 reviews
Associated Works
This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women (2006) — Contributor — 1,153 copies, 36 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Redfield Jamison, Kay
- Birthdate
- 1946-06-22
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of California, Los Angeles
- Occupations
- clinical psychologist
professor
autobiographer
producer
screenwriter - Organizations
- University of California, Los Angeles
Johns Hopkins University
National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research - Awards and honors
- MacArthur Fellowship (2001)
- Short biography
- In addition to her academic works, Prof. Jamison chronicled her own struggle with bipolar disorder (severe mania and depression) in her 1995 memoir An Unquiet Mind.
Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the co-author of the definitive medical text Manic-Depressive Illness. Dr. Jamison is a member of the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research. She is also the executive producer and writer for a series of award-winning public television specials about manic-depressive illness and the arts. [from Touched with Fire (1993)] - Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Years ago my mother took me to a series of talks at The U of Penn -- about depression and connected maladies. I heard Bill Styron talk about his terrifying bout with depression (about which he wrote in Darkness Visible) and also Kay Redfield Jamison whose book, An Unquiet Mind had just recently come out. Previous to this, Jamison, a clinical psychologist, had kept her own bipolar illness to herself and where necessary, friends and colleagues. (She prefers the term manic-depressive as more show more accurately descriptive.) The thumbnail takeaways are 1) If you are bipolar and lithium works for you, TAKE IT faithfully. 2) ALSO don't neglect to have a good therapist and psychiatrist who know your story 3) forgive yourself for the bad times and move on. 4) be open to loving and being loved. Jamison explores one of the key bipolar dilemmas--a terrifying number of those who have been diagnosed, who have had horrendous and repeated episodes of mania and depression, refuse to take lithium or quit, again and again once they feel better. The reasons are mainly cultural and she explores those. She also describes the allure and the terror of mania and the combined terror and utter tedium of depression, the former (the allure part) of which also made taking lithium regularly difficult to bear. We all know people who are bipolar, as it is surprisingly common, still kept hidden by individuals and families more afraid of the disruption of others knowing than of the private suffering, and so very very much the hidden cause behind many suicides and destroyed relationships. Jamison has devoted herself to bringing this topic into the open and to taking the cultural onus from being a sufferer down a few pegs. With time and experience too, she has been able to reduce her dose of lithium to one where her mind works more quickly, although she has had to work at staying on an even keel. (This took decades and dedication.)
Brava! ***** show less
Brava! ***** show less
'Which of my feelings are real? Which of me is me? The wild, impulsive, chaotic, energetic, and crazy one? Or the shy, withdrawn, desperate, suicidal, doomed, and tired one? Probably a bit of both, hopefully much that is neither.'
There is no way to make people not battling through it themselves understand how it actually feels to experience a mental illness. One can barely make them grasp it, maybe have them to get sympathy and a vague sense of grip; but telling of how it really feels, with show more all its subjectivity, is a nearly impossible feat, especially since such experiences will be different even between affected individuals. Yet, Kay Redfield Jamison manages to nearly achieve just that in exposing here all the fire of manic-depressive illness (she rejects the now widely used term 'bipolar'), 'a disease that both kills and gives life' -from its flying and intoxicating highs to its crushing and absolutely frightening lows, and the painful consequences coming with both.
There are a few books out there telling of first hand experiences of mental illnesses and depression. 'An Unquiet Mind', though, still stands out not least because the author is also a clinician specialist of the topic. Her ability to detach herself from what she is going through while battling her own demons is striking. The insights it provides her and, consequently, the readers are thus remarkable.
Indeed, it's the strange interplay between being a doctor and a patient, as well as the author's own human contradictions, that are here puzzling and touching. She not only tells of her wild dance with mania and depression (so bad she once tried to kill herself). She also opens up about the difficult issue of taking medication, the damages caused on relationships and, being genetic, the effect the disorder has had from her childhood (her dad was a likely sufferer too) to herself thinking of being a mother.
Here's an account which is as personal as it is insightful, but always moving and relevant. It can be grim. It can be funny. It can be hopeful. It is, above all, brave, emotional and, at the image of the illness it depicts, an intense read.
Highly recommended to anyone having an interest in manic-depressive/ bipolar disorder. show less
There is no way to make people not battling through it themselves understand how it actually feels to experience a mental illness. One can barely make them grasp it, maybe have them to get sympathy and a vague sense of grip; but telling of how it really feels, with show more all its subjectivity, is a nearly impossible feat, especially since such experiences will be different even between affected individuals. Yet, Kay Redfield Jamison manages to nearly achieve just that in exposing here all the fire of manic-depressive illness (she rejects the now widely used term 'bipolar'), 'a disease that both kills and gives life' -from its flying and intoxicating highs to its crushing and absolutely frightening lows, and the painful consequences coming with both.
There are a few books out there telling of first hand experiences of mental illnesses and depression. 'An Unquiet Mind', though, still stands out not least because the author is also a clinician specialist of the topic. Her ability to detach herself from what she is going through while battling her own demons is striking. The insights it provides her and, consequently, the readers are thus remarkable.
Indeed, it's the strange interplay between being a doctor and a patient, as well as the author's own human contradictions, that are here puzzling and touching. She not only tells of her wild dance with mania and depression (so bad she once tried to kill herself). She also opens up about the difficult issue of taking medication, the damages caused on relationships and, being genetic, the effect the disorder has had from her childhood (her dad was a likely sufferer too) to herself thinking of being a mother.
Here's an account which is as personal as it is insightful, but always moving and relevant. It can be grim. It can be funny. It can be hopeful. It is, above all, brave, emotional and, at the image of the illness it depicts, an intense read.
Highly recommended to anyone having an interest in manic-depressive/ bipolar disorder. show less
'The basic argument of this book is not that all writers and artists are depressed, suicidal, or manic. It is, rather, that a greatly disproportionate number of them are; that the manic-depressive and artistic temperaments are, in many ways, overlapping ones; and, that the two temperaments are causally related to one another.'
'Touched with Fire' is a passionate discussion of what is creativity, and how it can be served by the cognitive processes and moods involved in depression and manic/ show more hypomanic episodes. I personally love it, not least because I believe Kay Redfield Jamison (renown clinical psychologist and herself a manic-depressive, author of the bestseller 'An Unquiet Mind') has a strong point.
First, focusing on high profiles personalities (e.g. whole chapter or vignettes are dedicated to Byron, Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, Robert Schumann...) I like her holistic approach, away from so many ridicule psychobiographies unfortunately so common with such topic. Indeed, she doesn't focus only on the lives of the artists discussed; she, because bipolar is a genetic illness, support her arguments by looking also at their family backgrounds. Depression, suicide, substance abuse, violence... It's all very telling. Then, because perfectly aware of the scepticism her claim might raise, she dedicates a whole chapter exposing, and then counter-arguing, potential criticisms in sharp and punchy insights, relying on wide researches despite limited data. I, for one, was in any case convinced. She even goes further than that, touching on ethical issues by questioning the impact of treating - if not eliminating -such disease in a last chapter that leaves thoughtful to say the least:
'If manic-depressive illness and its associated temperaments are relatively common in artists, writers, and composers, and if the illness is, at least to some extent, an important part of what makes their work what it is, what are the implications of treating the underlying disease and its temperaments?'
Now, it doesn't mean it's all very strongly convincing. Since depression and mania/ hypomania are cyclic patterns often linked to seasons, she tries and attempts to argue that, some artists had indeed creative periods more prolific than others matching those cyclic patterns. Was she here carried away by her own argumentation, or is there really a connection I personally find too good to be true? I struggled to follow her on that score, and so will leave it here.
Nevertheless, I was strongly convinced by her claim that there clearly is a link between manic-depressive illness and creativity. The turmoil coming with the exhilarating highs and frightening and crushing lows of such 'fine madness' makes, in itself, for such emotional experience that if harnessed by artistic tendencies it no doubt can be the source of uncommon and wonderful art. The high rate of artists having suffered such fate is, alone, a testimony to it! Making science dance with art - understanding a mental illness and the creative process - here's a book which is as enthralling as it is riveting.
A great read. show less
'Touched with Fire' is a passionate discussion of what is creativity, and how it can be served by the cognitive processes and moods involved in depression and manic/ show more hypomanic episodes. I personally love it, not least because I believe Kay Redfield Jamison (renown clinical psychologist and herself a manic-depressive, author of the bestseller 'An Unquiet Mind') has a strong point.
First, focusing on high profiles personalities (e.g. whole chapter or vignettes are dedicated to Byron, Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, Robert Schumann...) I like her holistic approach, away from so many ridicule psychobiographies unfortunately so common with such topic. Indeed, she doesn't focus only on the lives of the artists discussed; she, because bipolar is a genetic illness, support her arguments by looking also at their family backgrounds. Depression, suicide, substance abuse, violence... It's all very telling. Then, because perfectly aware of the scepticism her claim might raise, she dedicates a whole chapter exposing, and then counter-arguing, potential criticisms in sharp and punchy insights, relying on wide researches despite limited data. I, for one, was in any case convinced. She even goes further than that, touching on ethical issues by questioning the impact of treating - if not eliminating -such disease in a last chapter that leaves thoughtful to say the least:
'If manic-depressive illness and its associated temperaments are relatively common in artists, writers, and composers, and if the illness is, at least to some extent, an important part of what makes their work what it is, what are the implications of treating the underlying disease and its temperaments?'
Now, it doesn't mean it's all very strongly convincing. Since depression and mania/ hypomania are cyclic patterns often linked to seasons, she tries and attempts to argue that, some artists had indeed creative periods more prolific than others matching those cyclic patterns. Was she here carried away by her own argumentation, or is there really a connection I personally find too good to be true? I struggled to follow her on that score, and so will leave it here.
Nevertheless, I was strongly convinced by her claim that there clearly is a link between manic-depressive illness and creativity. The turmoil coming with the exhilarating highs and frightening and crushing lows of such 'fine madness' makes, in itself, for such emotional experience that if harnessed by artistic tendencies it no doubt can be the source of uncommon and wonderful art. The high rate of artists having suffered such fate is, alone, a testimony to it! Making science dance with art - understanding a mental illness and the creative process - here's a book which is as enthralling as it is riveting.
A great read. show less
"I am tired of hiding, tired of misspent and knotted energies, tired of the hypocrisy, and tired of acting as though I have something to hide. One is what one is, and the dishonesty of hiding behind a degree, or a title, or any manner and collection of words, is still exactly that: dishonest."
Unmatched. Kay Redfield Jamison wrote this memoir in the 1990s, about her experiences with mental illness. She studies mood disorders at Johns Hopkins, and realized while studying Bipolar disorder that show more she herself had manic-depressive symptoms. The fact that she simultaneously has both an academic and a personal understanding of the condition allows her to articulate the experience in a way that is, as I said, unmatched.
Finding good representation of mental illness in any sense is frustratingly difficult. Lately I've been trying to find ways to articulate my own experiences, and I don't know how in the world I can copy what Dr. Jamison did in this book but I want to find out. This is not only an exemplary piece of writing, it is a beacon to any neuro-typical readers that want to see what it's like.
My experience, or the experience of anybody with any mental health problems, does not need to be exactly like Dr. Jamison's in order for this book to be meaningful. It's mere existence, let alone it's success, let alone it's actual content and style, is all so overwhelmingly excellent. To hear depression described as the feeling of being "dull, boring, inadequate, thick brained, unlit, unresponsive, chill skinned, bloodless, and sparrow drab" is energizing in it's honesty. Mental disorders, especially those of the depressive sort, are so inherently isolating. It takes an excellent writer to convey the feeling that those who struggle with these things are not alone.
The book also easily grapples with the complex struggles of medication, self-doubt, and maintaining healthy connections with other people. It explores the fears of hospitalization, and the reason why so many suicide attempts "fail", and why we consider these attempts "failures" (we shouldn't).
All in all, fantastic book.
"He taught me that the road from suicide to life is cold and colder and colder still, but- with steely effort, the grace of God, and an inevitable break in the weather- that I could make it."
I know the quotes are getting out of hand, but I'm going to close with pretty much the entire epilogue because it's very important:
"I have often asked myself whether, given the choice, I would choose to have manic-depressive illness. If [medicine] were not available to me, or didn't work for me, the answer would be a simple no- and it would be an answer laced with terror. But [it does, so]... I would choose to have it. It's complicated. Depression is awful beyond words or sounds or images; I would not go through an extended one again. It bleeds relationships.... there is nothing good to be said for it except that it gives you the experience of how it must be to be old, to be old and sick, to be dying...
Others imply that they know what it is like to be depressed because they have gone through a divorce, lost a job, or broken up with someone. But these experiences carry with them feelings. Depression, instead, is flat, hollow, and unendurable. It is also tiresome... So why would I want anything to do with this illness? Because I honestly believe that as a result of it I have felt more things, more deeply... worn death "as close as dungarees", appreciated it-and life- more...
Depressed, I have crawled on my hands and knees in order to get across a room and have done it for month after month. But, normal or manic, I have run faster, thought faster, and loved faster than most I know... The countless hypomanias, and mania itself, all have brought into my life a different level of sensing and feeling and thinking. Even when I have been most psychotic- delusional, hallucinating, frenzied- I have been aware of finding new corners in my mind and heart. Some of thee corners were incredible and beautiful and took my breath away and made me feel as though I could die right then and the images would sustain me. Some of them were grotesque and ugly and I never wanted to know they were there or to see them again. But, always, there were those new corners and- when feeling my normal self, beholden for that self to medicine and love- I cannot imagine becoming jaded to life, because I know of those limitless corners, with their limitless views." show less
Unmatched. Kay Redfield Jamison wrote this memoir in the 1990s, about her experiences with mental illness. She studies mood disorders at Johns Hopkins, and realized while studying Bipolar disorder that show more she herself had manic-depressive symptoms. The fact that she simultaneously has both an academic and a personal understanding of the condition allows her to articulate the experience in a way that is, as I said, unmatched.
Finding good representation of mental illness in any sense is frustratingly difficult. Lately I've been trying to find ways to articulate my own experiences, and I don't know how in the world I can copy what Dr. Jamison did in this book but I want to find out. This is not only an exemplary piece of writing, it is a beacon to any neuro-typical readers that want to see what it's like.
My experience, or the experience of anybody with any mental health problems, does not need to be exactly like Dr. Jamison's in order for this book to be meaningful. It's mere existence, let alone it's success, let alone it's actual content and style, is all so overwhelmingly excellent. To hear depression described as the feeling of being "dull, boring, inadequate, thick brained, unlit, unresponsive, chill skinned, bloodless, and sparrow drab" is energizing in it's honesty. Mental disorders, especially those of the depressive sort, are so inherently isolating. It takes an excellent writer to convey the feeling that those who struggle with these things are not alone.
The book also easily grapples with the complex struggles of medication, self-doubt, and maintaining healthy connections with other people. It explores the fears of hospitalization, and the reason why so many suicide attempts "fail", and why we consider these attempts "failures" (we shouldn't).
All in all, fantastic book.
"He taught me that the road from suicide to life is cold and colder and colder still, but- with steely effort, the grace of God, and an inevitable break in the weather- that I could make it."
I know the quotes are getting out of hand, but I'm going to close with pretty much the entire epilogue because it's very important:
"I have often asked myself whether, given the choice, I would choose to have manic-depressive illness. If [medicine] were not available to me, or didn't work for me, the answer would be a simple no- and it would be an answer laced with terror. But [it does, so]... I would choose to have it. It's complicated. Depression is awful beyond words or sounds or images; I would not go through an extended one again. It bleeds relationships.... there is nothing good to be said for it except that it gives you the experience of how it must be to be old, to be old and sick, to be dying...
Others imply that they know what it is like to be depressed because they have gone through a divorce, lost a job, or broken up with someone. But these experiences carry with them feelings. Depression, instead, is flat, hollow, and unendurable. It is also tiresome... So why would I want anything to do with this illness? Because I honestly believe that as a result of it I have felt more things, more deeply... worn death "as close as dungarees", appreciated it-and life- more...
Depressed, I have crawled on my hands and knees in order to get across a room and have done it for month after month. But, normal or manic, I have run faster, thought faster, and loved faster than most I know... The countless hypomanias, and mania itself, all have brought into my life a different level of sensing and feeling and thinking. Even when I have been most psychotic- delusional, hallucinating, frenzied- I have been aware of finding new corners in my mind and heart. Some of thee corners were incredible and beautiful and took my breath away and made me feel as though I could die right then and the images would sustain me. Some of them were grotesque and ugly and I never wanted to know they were there or to see them again. But, always, there were those new corners and- when feeling my normal self, beholden for that self to medicine and love- I cannot imagine becoming jaded to life, because I know of those limitless corners, with their limitless views." show less
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