Unquiet Mind : A Memoir of Moods and Madness

by JAMISON, KAY REDFIELD

• ISBN13: 9780679763307
• ISBN10: 0679763309
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-01-14
• Publisher: Vintage

About This Book

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

ISBN: 9780679763307

About This Book

"An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness" by Kay Redfield Jamison is a deeply powerful and candid memoir about living with bipolar disorder. This book has been a transformative and life-saving resource for many, offering a unique perspective from both the healer and the healed.

Who Uses It?

Primarily, this book is used by students and professionals in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and mental health. It is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding bipolar disorder, including individuals who have been diagnosed with the condition and their families. The book's insights into the personal and professional impacts of bipolar disorder make it a compelling read for anyone interested in mental health.

History and Editions

The book was first published in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. in New York in 1995. It was later reprinted in paperback by Vintage Books in 1997. The memoir details Jamison's experience with bipolar disorder from childhood up until the writing of the book, providing a comprehensive look at how the illness affected various aspects of her life.

Author and Other Works

Kay Redfield Jamison is a renowned clinical psychologist and researcher specializing in bipolar disorder. She is also a co-author of a standard medical text and the founder of UCLA's Affective Disorder Clinic. Jamison's work in the field of mental health, combined with her personal experience with bipolar disorder, makes her an authority on the subject. Her writing style is both lucid and profoundly affecting, making "An Unquiet Mind" a standout in the genre of memoirs about mental health.

Key Features

• Personal Insight: The book offers a deeply personal account of living with bipolar disorder, providing insights into the highs and lows of the condition.
• Professional Perspective: As a leading researcher in the field, Jamison brings a professional perspective to her memoir, making it both informative and relatable.
• Candid Storytelling: The book is powerfully candid, sharing moments of both exhilarating highs and paralyzing lows that Jamison experienced due to her bipolar disorder.

Detailed Information

ISBNs and Formats

• Hardcover: ISBN-13: 9780679763307
• Paperback: ISBN-13: 9780307498489 (2009 reprint)
• Audiobook: Available for download (167 minutes)

Publication Details

• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (original), Vintage Books (paperback reprint)
• Publication Date: January 14, 1997 (hardcover), January 21, 2009 (paperback)
• Number of Pages: 240 pages
• Language: English

Other Editions and Formats

• Audiobook: 167 minutes, available for download
• Paperback Reprint: ISBN-13: 9780307736345 (2010 reprint)

Related ISBNs:

• 9780679763307 (Hardcover)
• 9780307498489 (Paperback, 2009 reprint)
• 9780307736345 (Paperback, 2010 reprint)
• 9780679763309 (Hardcover, alternate ISBN)

This detailed information section provides a quick reference for all the available formats and sources for "An Unquiet Mind," making it easier to find and access the book in the preferred format.

Author Biography

Kay Redfield Jamison lives in Washington, DC.

Excerpts

Into the Sun

I was standing with my head back, one pigtail caught between my teeth, listening to the jet overhead. The noise was loud, unusually so, which meant that it was close. My elementary school was near Andrews Air Force Base, just outside Washington; many of us were pilots' kids, so the sound was a matter of routine. Being routine, however, didn't take away from the magic, and I instinctively looked up from the playground to wave. I knew, of course, that the pilot couldn't see me-I always knew that-just as I knew that even if he could see me the odds were that it wasn't actually my father. But it was one of those things one did, and anyway I loved any and all excuses just to stare up into the skies. My father, a career Air Force officer, was first and foremost a scientist and only secondarily a pilot. But he loved to fly, and, because he was a meteorologist, both his mind and his soul ended up being in the skies. Like my father, I looked up rather more than I looked out.

When I would say to him that the Navy and the Army were so much older than the Air Force, had so much more tradition and legend, he would say, Yes, that's true, but the Air Force is the future. Then he would always add: And-we can fly. This statement of creed would occasionally be followed by an enthusiastic rendering of the Air Force song, fragments of which remain with me to this day, nested together, somewhat improbably, with phrases from Christmas carols, early poems, and bits and pieces of the Book of Common Prayer: all having great mood and meaning from childhood, and all still retaining the power to quicken the pulses.

So I would listen and believe and, when I would hear the words "Off we go into the wild blue yonder," I would think that "wild" and "yonder" were among the most wonderful words I had ever heard; likewise, I would feel the total exhilaration of the phrase "Climbing high, into the sun" and know instinctively that I was a part of those who loved the vastness of the sky.

The noise of the jet had become louder, and I saw the other children in my second-grade class suddenly dart their heads upward. The plane was coming in very low, then it streaked past us, scarcely missing the playground. As we stood there clumped together and absolutely terrified, it flew into the trees, exploding directly in front of us. The ferocity of the crash could be felt and heard in the plane's awful impact; it also could be seen in the frightening yet terrible lingering loveliness of the flames that followed. Within minutes, it seemed, mothers were pouring onto the playground to reassure children that it was not their fathers; fortunately for my brother and sister and myself, it was not ours either. Over the next few days it became clear, from the release of the young pilot's final message to the control tower before he died, that he knew he could save his own life by bailing out. He also knew, however, that by doing so he risked that his unaccompanied plane would fall onto the playground and kill those of us who were there.

The dead pilot became a hero, transformed into a scorchingly vivid, completely impossible ideal for what was meant by the concept of duty. It was an impossible ideal, but all the more compelling and haunting because of its very unobtainability. The memory of the crash came back to me many times over the years, as a reminder both of how one aspires after and needs such ideals, and of how killingly difficult it is to achieve them. I never again looked at the sky and saw only vastness and beauty. From that afternoon on I saw that death was also and always there.

Although, like all military families, we moved a lot-by the fifth grade my older brother, sister, and I had attended four different elementary schools, and we had lived in Florida, Puerto Rico, California, Tokyo, and Washington, twice-our parents, especially my mother, kept life as secure, warm, and con

---

Excerpted from An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.