Book Review: An Unquiet Mind

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
by Kay Redfield Jamison

This is one of the very best books I’ve read on bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder. It’s power comes from three main thrusts:

1. It’s very readable. The language is neither too lofty, too personal, nor too technical
   
   
2. It is the author’s memoir of her personal experiences managing the disorder
   
   
3. The author is not only a patient, she is also a professional with years of teaching and clinical experience working in the medical field. Her specialty deals with the pharmacology that is associated with mood disorders.

Kay Redfield Jamison is a professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is the coauthor of one of the standard textbooks on manic-depressive disorder. Because she also has been managing the disorder for most of her adult life, she is able to bring a searing personal perspective to her writing that captures the essence of what it is like to deal with an unquiet mind for a lifetime. Being able to read the story of someone who is further along the road to recovery than I am brings both an awareness of the caution that must be exerted in moving forward, and a sense of exhilaration that this disorder can be a blessing as well as a curse.

That is the greatest gift of this book that I had not connected with in my other readings. Bipolar is a disorder, not an illness out of control, not an evil with the power to rule one’s life and make the patient a victim, but a disorder whose energy can be channeled to become an asset rather than simply a liability. It’s all about becoming aware of the symptoms, paying attention to the ebbs and flows of mood, resisting the temptations to stop taking medications, and learning to manage one’s energy through healthy choices.

Her many years of living with bipolar syndrome has given Kay a perspective and insight that are invaluable. As the book jacket states, “She has emerged with a memoir of enormous candor, vividness, and wisdom, one of those rare books that have the power to transform lives – and even save them.”

I would not recommend this book to someone who has recently been diagnosed with the disorder. In that stage, there are other resources that will be much more valuable in getting a person stabilized.

I highly recommend this book for those patients (and their families) who have come a way down the road to understanding the disorder and stabilizing their lives. These patients will recognize a bit of their own journey and will get a glimpse into the kind of abundant life that is possible in spite of – and because of – the volatility of the disorder.

Buy An Unquiet Mind from Amazon.com