An Unquiet Mind Book Review PDF

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Book review on "An Unquiet Mind"...

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Alexia Howard-Mullins Professor Kirsch PSYC302 // Abnormal Psychology 14 March 2020 Self-Destruction to Self-Acceptance Jamison’s book, An Unquiet Mind, brought to light many issues concerning those with manic-depressive disorder, including myself. Many may believe she has romanticized the illness, putting a pretty face on it to those that do not understand; however, Jamison does an excellent job of showing exactly how alluring a manic episode can be. Manic-depressive disorder is a cycle between the highest highs and the lowest of lows, yet during a manic episode one cannot see the deep hole they are about to fall into. For some, the intoxication of the mania is so attractive that the thought of seeking help is glazed over during an episode. As Jamison said, “like gamblers who sacrifice everything for the fleeting but ecstatic moments of winning, or cocaine addicts who risk their families, careers, and lives for brief interludes of high energy and mood, I found my milder manic states powerfully inebriating and very conducive to productivity. I couldn’t give them up” (p98). Only when one is deep enough in their own madness to lose the things they love will they finally start to seek help from others. Although Jamison talked much about the manic side of manic-depressive disorder, she also touched quite a bit on how far a depressive episode can truly go. Throughout her journey of self-acceptance, Jamison hits rock bottom several times, and it is only then that she is forced to accept herself and her illness for what it is. After her suicide attempt, she starts to take her manicdepressive disorder seriously, trying to stick to a strict regimen of lithium to balance out the

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chemicals in her brain that are making her feel this way. In the beginning of the book, Jamison writes, “it took me far too long to realize that lost years and relationships cannot be recovered, that damage done to oneself and others cannot always be put right again, and that freedom from the control imposed by medication loses its meaning when the only alternatives are death and insanity” (p3). During her self-acceptance, Jamison had to realize that sanity and stability were more beneficial to her than her productive manic highs ever would have been. Whatever brief elation that mania allows is always followed by pain and an out-of-control spiral that leads to self-destruction. After her acceptance of her need of medication, Jamison reflects, saying, “The issue was not whether lithium was a problematic drug, it was not whether I missed my highs; it was not whether taking medication was consistent with some idealized notion of my family’s background. The underlying issue was whether or not I would choose to use lithium only intermittently, and thereby ensure a return of my manias and depressions. The choice, as he saw it—and is now painfully clear to me—was between madness and sanity, and between life and death” (p102). Many believe that manic-depressive disorder is slight changes in moods, or “waking up on the wrong side of the bed” one morning and fine the next. However, as Jamison described it, “Manic-depression distorts moods and thoughts, incites dreadful behaviors, destroys the basis of rational thought, and too often erodes the desire and will to live. It is an illness that is biological in its origins, yet one that feels psychological in the experience of it; an illness that is unique in conferring advantage and pleasure, yet one that brings in its wake almost unendurable suffering and, not infrequently, suicide.” Manic-depression alters one’s ability to think and act accordingly, and changes their mental processes. There is a stigma and a stereotype around this illness that seems to be a consistent theme in Jamison’s book. Although parts of manic-depressive disorder

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may seem appealing to some, a beautiful destruction is still a destruction. Only those who have the disorder can truly understand what goes on in a person’s head during the opposite poles of mood. In the words of Jamison, “the discrepancies between what one is, what one is brought up to believe is the right way of behaving toward others, and what actually happens during these awful black manias, or mixed states, are absolute and disturbing beyond description” (p121).

SIDENOTE: This book really helped me to understand more about myself and my diagnosis. I thought I was alone in the way that my manic episodes are hypnotizing, but I’m not. I think I’m going to read the other book on the list, Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, because I truly want to know more. From the descriptions of Touched with Fire, I know that it’s more about the creativity that accompanies the manic side of manic-depressive disorder, and I would like to know more about why I get so creative during those times....