Introduction
An Unquiet Mind is an emotionally-charged and uncompromising memoir of Kay Redfield Jamison, a leading scholar on manic depression. It is a story about a therapist who struggles with “mania and depression, a near-lethal suicide attempt, and a reason-defying unwillingness to take medication” (Jamison 2011). Writing in clear language and using accurate descriptions, she provides an exquisite account of a psychotic flight through manic depression accompanied by suicidal impulses. An Unquiet Mind describes in a precise and somewhat poetical manner various stages of Jamison’s life and her emergence as a psychiatrist who has battled manic depression for most of her life. The book also familiarizes readers with numerous romantic liaisons of the author that have the neurochemical dysfunction as a dark backdrop. Jamison tells her story in an attempt to show the world that despite having a severe mental condition, it is possible to have a good life and even hold a senior medical position.
The aim of this paper is to explore the connection between Jamison’s condition and how it affects her intimate relationships. The paper will analyze the memoir in order to understand how intense sensual pleasures are experienced by someone going through a life-long manic phase.
Analysis
An Unquiet Mind provides readers with a chance to marvel at the way a human mind works when it is detached from a solid grasp on a supposed state of sanity. Jamison shares her anxiety mixed with excitement over the slowly melting boundaries between saneness and madness, making her audience wonder whether people with major mental disorders have more interesting lives than the rest of humanity. The book is unique because not only does it provide the readers with a perspective on manic depression but it also lets them gain insight into the way people at the margins of society negotiate with the world and themselves. Nobody reads case studies of heart failure or bone cancer in order to better understand the nature of human relationships. However, by reading An Unquiet Mind—a book narrating the experiences of a mentally ill psychotherapist—it is possible to make sense of the intricate web of tumultuous labyrinths that is interpersonal relationships. Moreover, Jamison crafts a beautiful story of intimate relationships in the context of manic depression.
The psychoanalyst writes her story in the first person, thereby turning herself into the object of research. By doing so, not only does the author eschew the orthodox concept of separating a researcher from a subject of research but she also breaks away from focusing on generalizations. The narrative text of the book allows the readers to digest a complete story replete with personal insights into manic-depressive illness and to understand how it affects intimate relationships. Jamison brings her audience close to the torment and delight of her state by making colors and moods almost palpable. The author writes that she has always been “frighteningly, although often wonderfully beholden to moods” (Jamison, 2011, p. 4). During the terrible times of growing up with her condition, Jamison notices that her older sister and father are also touched by the fire of psychiatric disorder. By observing her close ones and herself, she realizes that the illness is characterized by both enormously creative and desperately dark states.
It is clear that Jamison’s temperament and values that shape her romantic relationships to the same extent that her condition does have been created by interpersonal patterns of communication with her family members. Even though the narrator’s father’s condition worsens, she does not want to let go of the belief that she is able to handle her own problems (Jamison, 2011). However, when she has the first attack on bipolar disorder, she becomes fully aware of the severity of the illness. When describing her first episode, Jamison says, “My mind had turned on me: it mocked me for my vapid enthusiasm; it laughed at all of my foolish plans; it no longer found anything interesting or enjoyable or worthwhile” (Jamison, 2011, p. 38). Later, when the writer muses on the differences between two cognitive states—depression and a manic phase—she states, “I felt infinitely worse, more dangerously depressed, during this first manic episode than when in the midst of my worst depressions” (Jamison, 2011, p. 82).
As Jamison’s illness becomes apparent, she invites her readers for a roller coaster ride of manic depressions and psychotic episodes that she wants to keep secret from the public in order to pursue a master’s degree in psychology. Arguably, it is the better part of the book because it introduces the writer’s audience to the romantic and passionate escapades that Jamison has with numerous attractive men. Despite the fact that she is afflicted by a serious illness, the psychoanalyst is blessed with a succession of men that can be featured in the greatest romantic movies ever made. Jamison artfully interweaves the intense chronicle of her madness with the sensate language of desire. By introducing a personal and interpretive worldview into her writing, she alters her narrative to become more evocative and warm. The writer does not portray her intimate escapades as a snapshot; instead, she utilizes performative writing techniques in order to deliver a coherent system of feelings and thoughts.
The readers have the immediate experience of Jamison’s teachers, psychiatrists, and friends who are drawn to her intelligence. It seems that by providing social context to bipolar disorder, the psychoanalyst wants to convey to her audience that even concrete elements of connected experiences of people engaged in romantic relationships cannot be detached from the destructive influence of the illness. Moreover, Jamison understands that passionate love is not capable of reducing the strain of being mentally unmoored. She writes that “no amount of love can cure madness or unblacken one’s dark moods” (Jamison, 2011, p. 98). The writer acknowledges that “love can help,” but she also concedes that “one is always beholden to medication that may or may not always work or may not be bearable” (Jamison, 2011, p. 98). Interestingly enough, she does not eclipse her intimate experiences with psychological concepts and typologies but, instead, allows the readers to nourish their hunger for knowledge through a tinted glass of apt analogies and metaphors.
The stories of Jamison’s intimate relationships, just like her mind, are flooded with intermixing elements of poetry and irrational fears. The illness provides a dark undertone to the romantic escapades of the author. It is especially evident when she is unable to control her moods without taking lithium. Jamison’s resistance to resorting to medication dramatically affects her romantic life; she does not want to be “pigeonholed as weak and neurotic” (Jamison, 2011, p. 202). Therefore, she cannot be totally open in her romantic involvements. However, Jamison concedes that not all aspects of her disorder negatively influence her personal life and states that her fiery moods often provide her intimate relationships with “a certain romantic tumultuousness” (Jamison, 2011, p. 122). Moreover, the writer argues that manic-depression is a condition that provides a person suffering from it with a fair amount of energy and enthusiasm. Jamison is convinced that she would not be so imaginative in her approach to her personal and professional life if it were not for the disease.
As the psychoanalyst grows in her understanding of love, she comes to appreciate the intellectual steadiness that her husband exudes. Jamison realizes that it is possible to have enticing relationships without the volatility and chaos of extreme moods. The writer tells the readers that after looking in the mirror of her husband’s temperament, she has learned about calmness and growth of love. Despite her exceptionally mercurial moods, she is capable of finding a safe harbor—Richard. The man helps Jamison to deal with her manic-depressive illness and provides her with more than a decade of extremely strong medicine that is an intimate relationship.
Conclusion
An Unquiet Mind is an emotionally-charged and uncompromising story of a life-long battle with manic-depression. Jamison beautifully portrays a relationship between the illness and her intimate life while managing to introduce a coherent and scientific point of view into her narrative. By providing the readers with theoretical explanations of her condition, Jamison creates a context for her evolving relationships with men and with the world. Expressed in almost poetic forms of writing, her emotions, anxieties, struggles, and moods allow the readers to recognize a human being seeking love in the murky waters of manic-depression.
Reference
Jamison, K. R. (2011). An unquiet mind. New York, NY: Vintage Books.