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Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness…
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Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament (original 1993; edition 1996)

by Kay Redfield Jamison

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1,259715,312 (3.97)26
"The anguished, volatile intensity we associate with the artistic temperament, often described as "a fine madness," has been thought of as a defining aspect of much artistic genius. Now, Kay Jamison's brilliant work, based on years of studies as a clinical psychologist and prominent researcher in mood disorders, reveals that many artists who were subject to alternatingly exultant and then melancholic moods were, in fact, engaged in a lifelong struggle with manic-depressive illness." "Drawing on extraordinary recent advances in genetics, neuroscience, and psychopharmacology, Jamison presents the now incontrovertible proof of the biological foundations of this frequently misunderstood disease, and applies what is known about the illness, and its closely related temperaments, to the lives of some of the world's greatest artists - Byron, van Gogh, Shelley, Poe, Melville, Schumann, Coleridge, Virginia Woolf, Burns, and many others. Byron's life, discussed in considerable detail, is used as a particularly fascinating example of the complex interaction among heredity, mood, temperament, and poetic work." "Jamison reviews the substantial, rapidly accumulating, and remarkably consistent findings from biographic and scientific studies that demonstrate a markedly increased rate of severe mood disorders and suicide in artists, writers, and composers. She then discusses reasons why this link between mania, depression, and artistic creativity might exist." "Manic-depressive illness, a surprisingly common disease, is genetically transmitted. For the first time, the extensive family histories of psychiatric illness and suicide in many writers, artists, and composers are presented. In some instances - for example, Tennyson and Byron - these psychiatric pedigrees are traced back more than 150 years. Jamison discusses the complex ethical and cultural consequences of recent research in genetics, especially as they apply to manic-depressive illness, a disease that almost certainly confers both individual and evolutionary advantage, but often kills and destroys as it does so." "Psychiatric treatment of artists remains a fiercely controversial issue. Dr. Jamison discusses both the advantages and problems with current treatments, and advocates a humanistic, flexible, and yet firmly medical approach. However, she strongly cautions against simplistic attempts to cure this most human and tragic of all diseases at the expense of destroying the artistic personality."--Jacket.… (more)
Member:Moranga
Title:Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament
Authors:Kay Redfield Jamison
Info:Free Press (1996), Edition: New edition, Paperback, 384 pages
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Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament by Kay Redfield Jamison (1993)

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Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
This enthralling study of the relation between manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament enlarges our understanding of the creative process in new and unexpected ways. Professor Jamison combines psychiatric sense with artistic sensibility in an an original and marvelous book.
  PendleHillLibrary | Jun 15, 2022 |
First of all, there's a lot of discussion about (and occasional colorful descriptions of) suicide in this book, so it isn't light reading at all, and some of the passages quoted from different authors were hard to get through for me.

So this was written in 1993, when we were still on the DSM III, and it's sometimes evident in the more clinical chapters, e.g. positing the idea of what we now commonly refer to as Seasonal Affective Disorder outside of a diagnostic context. Some of the information about the pharmaceuticals involved in treating manic-depressive illnesses shows its age, mostly in terms of the "standard" medications save for lithium. If you're familiar with the physiological side of manic-depressive illnesses, then those chapters may drag on slightly, though I still found the research into genetics and inheritance intriguing.

Having said that, the chapters that focused on well-known creative figures with manic-depressive symptoms have made a huge difference in the way that I view my own illness and the methods that I use for managing it. One of the biggest points is how exhaustive Jamison's list of artists, writers, and musicians with manic-depressive symptoms is, and how well-researched their family histories and symptoms are. Some of the more "mainstream" figures studied were familiar to me (Van Gogh, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge), and many others weren't, and I'm grateful that examples of their writing were presented so that I could add quite a few books and collections to my reading list.

Jamison also presents letters and journal entries that aren't as prominent, which I appreciated, and for the first time I found myself researching and saving quotes that were particularly interesting to me. I would definitely recommend this to anyone trying to reconcile their manic-depressive illness with their creative work. ( )
  katie.kloss | Apr 25, 2021 |
Another brilliant book about bipolar disorder and other mood disorders by Dr. Jamison. She writes about what has come to be known as "the artistic temperament," i.e., unstable, mercurial moods, grand visions, tremendous energy and drive to accomplish goals, inspired creativity, and the plummet into despair and depression that can follow such heightened mood states. ( )
  harrietbrown | Jun 24, 2017 |
This is a fabulous exploration of the potential link.between creative genius and what others might call madness. It is extremely well-written book intended for the non-scientific audience. Commentators who claimed it was written for scientists obviously have never read any scientific papers, nor much in the way of literature. ( )
  DarleneCypser | May 30, 2017 |
This is a must read twice. Maybe three times. It's strength is in the research. Jamison did her homework and the result is a large book of academic weight made readible by her gift of language and respect for audience. I warn against skipping around. Without having her entire thesis in context one can err in the assumption that Jamison proposes that people are made great by insanity. At all costs manic depression must not be romanticized. Does Jamison dance a little too close to that assumption? I have to read it again. ( )
2 vote AnitaDTaylor | Oct 27, 2007 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Kay Redfield Jamisonprimary authorall editionscalculated
Moreau, AlainCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
REM Studio Inc.Book and cover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
To those who, by the dint of glass and vapour,
Discover stars, and sail in the wind's eye --
   -- Byron
I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history
Through corridors of light, where the hours are suns,
Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the Spirit, clothed from head to foot in song.
And who hoarded from the Spring branches
The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.
 
What is precious, is never to forget
The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs
Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.
Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light
Nor its grave evening demand for love.
Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
With noise and fog, the flowering of the spirit.
 
Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields,
See how these names are fĂȘted by the waving grass
And by the streamers of white cloud
And whispers of wind in the listening sky.
The names of those who in their lives fought for life,
Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.
Born of the sun, they travelled a short while toward the sun
And left the vivid air signed with their honour.
 
   -- Stephen Spender
Dedication
For
Richard Jed Wyatt, M.D.
First words
"We of the craft are all crazy," remarked Lord Byron about himself and his fellow poets.
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Wikipedia in English (3)

"The anguished, volatile intensity we associate with the artistic temperament, often described as "a fine madness," has been thought of as a defining aspect of much artistic genius. Now, Kay Jamison's brilliant work, based on years of studies as a clinical psychologist and prominent researcher in mood disorders, reveals that many artists who were subject to alternatingly exultant and then melancholic moods were, in fact, engaged in a lifelong struggle with manic-depressive illness." "Drawing on extraordinary recent advances in genetics, neuroscience, and psychopharmacology, Jamison presents the now incontrovertible proof of the biological foundations of this frequently misunderstood disease, and applies what is known about the illness, and its closely related temperaments, to the lives of some of the world's greatest artists - Byron, van Gogh, Shelley, Poe, Melville, Schumann, Coleridge, Virginia Woolf, Burns, and many others. Byron's life, discussed in considerable detail, is used as a particularly fascinating example of the complex interaction among heredity, mood, temperament, and poetic work." "Jamison reviews the substantial, rapidly accumulating, and remarkably consistent findings from biographic and scientific studies that demonstrate a markedly increased rate of severe mood disorders and suicide in artists, writers, and composers. She then discusses reasons why this link between mania, depression, and artistic creativity might exist." "Manic-depressive illness, a surprisingly common disease, is genetically transmitted. For the first time, the extensive family histories of psychiatric illness and suicide in many writers, artists, and composers are presented. In some instances - for example, Tennyson and Byron - these psychiatric pedigrees are traced back more than 150 years. Jamison discusses the complex ethical and cultural consequences of recent research in genetics, especially as they apply to manic-depressive illness, a disease that almost certainly confers both individual and evolutionary advantage, but often kills and destroys as it does so." "Psychiatric treatment of artists remains a fiercely controversial issue. Dr. Jamison discusses both the advantages and problems with current treatments, and advocates a humanistic, flexible, and yet firmly medical approach. However, she strongly cautions against simplistic attempts to cure this most human and tragic of all diseases at the expense of destroying the artistic personality."--Jacket.

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