An Unquiet Mind

“I did not wake up one day, to find myself mad. Life should be so simple.” says Kay Redfield Jamison author of an unquiet Mind- a memoir of moods and madness. This quote embodies Jamison’s view of her life with manic depression. She knew at a young age that she was different, having higher highs, and lower lows than other people. Through the years, her illness became more and more dangerous, to her and others around her. Jamison’s memoir details the highs and lows of manic depressive illness. Manic depressive illness, commonly referred to as bipolar disorder is the mental disorder that occurs when a person undergoes mania and depression. Manic phases are described as being hyperactive, such as periods of inability to sleep, delusions of grandeur, and their often highly productive, and sometimes even aggressive. Manic phases are followed by the depressive phases. Like a pendulum swing, the higher the mania, the lower the depression. Depressive phase are the opposite of mania, more than being sad, it’s a state of being in a numb despair. Despite the challenges of living with a psychiatric disorder Jamison has accomplished great things.
For example, even though Jamison has bipolar disorder, she still experienced and understood love. She says “After each seeming death within my mind or heart, love has returned to re-create hope and restore life.” This shows that she counted on the love of others to get her through severe episodes. Throughout the book, she explains that when she first wrote this book, she conceived it as a book about moods, and an illness of moods, as she continued to write it however, she said that is turned out to be very much a book about love as well: love as a sustainer, a renewer, and a protector. Jamison also said “Love, like life, is much stranger and far more complicated than one is brought up to believe.” This shows that she understood not just how difficult love is but life is as well. Life and love are not black and white. There are ups