Kay Redfield Jamison's “An Unquiet Mind“

3 Pages 652 Words

In Kay Redfield Jamison’s “An Unquiet Mind” most of her personal stories regarding her battle with manic depression are closely if not exactly related to the material in the text and notes on mood disorders. The facts of Manic Depression (also classified as a
Bipolar I Disorder) found in the text as well as Jamison’s personal story were such as classification of Bipolar I Disorder, symptoms of Bipolar I Disorder (both manic and depression), explanations for Bipolar I Disorder, and treatments for Bipolar I Disorder.
The text gave an explanation on how all of these different facts worked and the effect they had on someone suffering with manic depression, but Jamison’s story put the text and notes into real life. She showed us the effect her illness had on her loved ones, colleagues, career, and everyday life. Something we weren’t able to see in the text and notes. So in a sense, the text and “An Unquiet mind” though different from each other, worked and in hand in teaching what manic depression is made up of.
After reading “An Unquiet Mind” I found a whole new respect and understanding for mood disorders. Before reading the story I never really found it believable that someone’s brain could take total control over his or her life. This is because I’ve never been through it and I can’t understand, but since I’ve read the book I understand in a sense. The reason why the story has taken a larger effect on me than the text or the notes is because the story kept me interested and wanting to learn more about what was going on in Jamison’s life. The text informed me in similar ways the story did about mood disorders, but I feel like I learned more from the story.
The story not only helped me understand mood disorders just because it kept me interested, but also because I read a personal account of mood disorders taking over someone’s life. Which is something that was not found in the text. Readin...