An Unquiet Mind | Kay Redfield Jamison | Macmillan Publishers

‘A beautifully written account… It will do much to dispel the stigma that still surrounds manic-depressive illness.’

An Unquiet Mind is one of the most powerful, celebrated, and enduring memoirs ever written about mental illness. In this extraordinarily candid and beautifully crafted account, Professor Kay Redfield Jamison — a world-renowned psychiatrist and one of the foremost authorities on bipolar disorder — writes with unflinching honesty about her own experience of manic-depressive illness: the soaring highs, the devastating lows, the hospitalisations, the medications, and the long, difficult journey toward a life that is full, meaningful, and her own.

Published by Macmillan Publishers, An Unquiet Mind is at once a gripping personal memoir and a profound work of insight — blending the intimacy of lived experience with the clarity of scientific understanding in a way that only someone who is both patient and clinician could achieve. It is a book that has changed the way millions of people understand bipolar disorder, mental illness, and the remarkable resilience of the human mind.

Key Themes

• Living with bipolar disorder — an unflinching, first-hand account of the full range of manic-depressive illness — the euphoric highs, the crushing depressions, the moments of creative intensity, and the devastating consequences of untreated episodes
• Science and lived experience — a uniquely powerful combination of personal memoir and clinical insight, written by a psychiatrist who has lived the very condition she has spent her career studying and treating
• Stigma and understanding — a landmark work in the effort to challenge the stigma and misconceptions surrounding mental illness, replacing fear and misunderstanding with honesty, compassion, and nuance
• Resilience and recovery — the difficult, non-linear journey toward stability, self-acceptance, and a life built on the author’s own terms — a story of extraordinary courage and hard-won hope
• The relationship between mood and creativity — a searching and personal exploration of the complex relationship between manic-depressive illness, creativity, and the extraordinary minds it has touched throughout history

Who This Book Is For

An Unquiet Mind is essential reading for anyone affected by bipolar disorder or mood disorders — as well as mental health professionals, students of psychology and psychiatry, and anyone seeking a deeper, more compassionate understanding of the human mind and the experience of mental illness.

About the Author

Kay Redfield Jamison is Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and one of the world’s leading authorities on bipolar disorder. She is the co-author of the standard medical text on manic-depressive illness and the recipient of numerous awards for her contributions to mental health research, education, and advocacy.

Author: Kay Redfield Jamison
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
Format: Print
Genre: Memoir / Mental Health / Psychiatry / Bipolar Disorder
ISBN: 9781447275282