An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, is touched with fire. She has made manic-depressive disorder the centerpiece of a remarkable clinical and academic career. She coauthoredManic Depressive Illnessand a fascinating book,Touched With Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. She caps this progression from the clinical study of bipolar disease to delineating its cultural significance with this revealing monograph about her experience as a person who has manic-depressive illness. Like her other work, the writing is clear, often lyrical, and a pleasure to read. An Unquiet Mindopens two doors. It is a uniquely informed account of the experience of manic-depressive disorder. It is also an account of how a physician, her psychiatrists, and her departments handled the issues of professional competence for this sometimes and always potentially disabling illness. Dr Jamison depicts the personal experience of manic-depressive illness as a part