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Summary: The beauty and horror of the bi-polar mind
Review: For people with bi-polar disease, this book seems to be a lot of things - maddening, frustrating, spot-on, a travesty, a manifesto. For those of us who love people who are bi-polar, it's a must read - a rare (and wonderfully expressive) chance to understand the hypomania, mania, and depression our friends and family members go through. I can never fully understand the condition, but I'm much better equipped to empathize, thanks to Jamison's funny, smart, and honest-to-the-bone prose. Jamison, it seems, never set out to write an argument for any particular treatment of bi-polarism. She is not a case study - she's a specific, individual person, and she views herself with extreme perception and self-criticism. She doesn't back away from the horror of mania, but she isn't afraid to express the beauty and seductive nature of hypomania (seductive to both the victim and the people who surround her, it seems), which is so valuable to readers who do not suffer from bi-polarism. "An Unquiet Mind" is a rare find - a book that explains the unexplainable, that allows the reader to empathize and understand. Because Jamison doesn't try to analyze a "typical" bi-polar patient, only herself, many victims of bi-polar disease will see some significant differences with their experiences (just read some of the reader reviews). For those of us love people with bi-polarism, the book gives us the tools to empathize, and love them all the more.
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Summary: Are We Americans Now Trashing the Bearer of GOOD News?
Review: I was one of those people who, back in 2000, ordered several copies of the paperback edition of this book for relatives and close friends to understand what I've been through. It was my way of helping them to understand that I will probably be on some form of medication all my life and that my depressions aren't just laziness or moodiness and my elations not mere "exuberance" or lack of impulse control. I originally filed a similar anonymous (the type Amazon calls "private") review back then. Now, emboldened by the everyday courage of so many people who simply filed reviews as themselves, apparently not even thinking their illness might stigmatize them, I am now "outing" myself. Context: I am quite obese, not the pleasantest person in the world to get along with (even years prior to "manifesting"), and grew up Protestant in the Deep South which means that Chicagoans in a rush to judge don't know whether to pigeonhole me as WASP, White Trash, Johnny Bull or Scots-Irish (not my concern!) I have been openly gay for the past 20 years to the point of publishing review of gay- or lesbian-themed books and movies under my own name; certainly when Queer Studies emerged 10-12 years ago (after muttering "What took you so long?" under my breath) I cheered. My other flaws as enumerated come more quickly to the surface and are therefore more easily glimpsed. I am also Bipolar Type IIa, atypical. (Depressive/Manic) and need about 5 different CNS meds a day and several sedatives to sleep at night, insomnia being the two-year warning signal that I was headed for a hospitalization. I pay over $250 a month for prescriptions while politicians talk having Medicare foot the bill "for the Seniors(?)." With the help of therapy and psychiatry (AND debt AND charity AND governmental assistance!) I've worked hard on understanding my rage, my limitations, and the behaviors I manifested pre-medication. I would say I'm a good patient but not a docile one and I am quite aware I had been given -- quite falsely and hypocritically -- every indication that a rational society would treat a DMS mental illness as a "mere" allopathic pathology like pneumonia or lymphoma. Overall, though, of all my built-in character traits and acquired habits like smoking, a love of Amazon reviews and other tendencies, irrespective of whether they are intrinsic, extrinsic, matters of chance, my contrariness or just plain morally neutral I-am-what-I-am-ness: nothing in my life has thrown as much gratuitous CRAP in my way as the "mental illness" and probably the social consequences are more alienating than the economic--even now, at least to me, tho' I've worked hard on the anger, the limitations of capacity, the history pre-manifestation and so on. Astonishing to me is the number of people who will sidle up at church or wherever and admit they take, say, Zoloft but should I reveal I have a diagnosis--WELL!--I take on the color of a leper. There are certain ambiguities people will tolerate, and certain they won't. Perhaps that's why I'm upset that so many people are trashing the captioned book because the author committed the cardinal sin of extricating herself from the disease as well as she could--even though she never said "I did a splendid job of healing; what's wrong with you"? I am hearing rage and frustration in some of the people who are trashing the author; while I understand the rage and frustration I think perhaps venting it toward the author is not the way to go. She's on our side, isn't she? Well, I think she is. If this were 1910, would Americans be justified in saying, "Oh, sure, it's all right for HELEN KELLER. She had everything! A big house, the best possible governess. All the breaks. All she does is make the rest of us look bad. That blithe spirit of a HELEN KELLER, always so pleased with herself." Or am I making too much of the analogy? I can only reiterate that the book has truly been helpful and I WOULD STILL be handing it out if the technology hadn't moved on in the intervening years. And I bear the author no envy for the fact(s) that she's smarter, better educated, trained in exactly the right field, and more disciplined than I; in fact, that's why I'm grateful to her. I still consider Dr. Jamison a friend and one doesn't dismiss friends lightly; there are too few out there in a world that is still fundamentally bewildered by the concept of mental illness, still to willing to confuse disease with sloth, or mental chemistry with moral character. Please be careful whom you choose to alienate. Is she the real enemy here? If erudition, craft, and empathy for her fellow-sufferers is something to be condemned -- doesn't that mean that ignorance and apathy are the dragons left behind, unslain, ignored? We can wolf down all the post-modern meds we won't but if the underlying social context is still pre-Enlightenment regarding madness we can't say we've made the right kind of progress--and scapegoating does nobody any good, in my opinion. My name is Allen Smalling.
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Rating: 
Summary: "An Unquiet Mind"
Review: This book made me ill.I would have given it no stars, but that wasn't an option. I suffered through it hoping for something good to come of it - I was wrong. I am bipolar (not mad as she so likes to point out). I have experienced mania and the horrible aftermath of depression. People battle with the medicines day after day. I myself have experienced the side effects of Lithium. It took nearly two years before I ended up in the hospital in an episode that nearly cost me everything. It was then a wonderful psychiatrist saved me, he changed my medicine, and he saved my life. To purposely not take your medicine, knowing the consequences -time and time again- just to be high (manic) - not caring about anyone but yourself is sick and twisted. What is even more unbelievable is in the epilogue where she states that given a choice to do it all over again she would still choose bipolar over a normal, illness free life. If that question was posed to most bipolar people, I believe Ms. Kay would be in the company of a very small minority. Being bipolar is something you have to work at daily through taking your medication, therapy, reading everything you can get your hands on about the subject, exercise, meditation and prayer (the later two not being for everyone). I will never let this illness get the better of me again. I learned the first time, and I don't even have a PhD!
Rating: 
Summary: An a-typical experience
Review: This book is a good read for those trying to understand bi-polar illness at a very high level. However, as the author has a privileged background it fails to offer or explore (perhaps as an index or appendix at the end of the book) resources for those not fortunate enough to have family members that can reconcile/pay off the enormous amounts of debt that a bi polar person can acquire in a manic phase and psychiatric care that is affordable (via insurance). Psychiatric care IS VERY NECCESARY along with proper medication and unfortunately sometimes inpatient care. The book does not convey the often frustrating challenge of getting a bi-polar person medical help as a person can only be forcibly committed to a hospital if they are deemed a threat to themselves or the community around them. AND that the best care is unattainable by the majority of persons afflicted. This book is a good read, but for those people without access to similar financial means as the author and for those who have years(often decades) of experience with seriously bi-polar family members (debt, poor medical care, lack of adequate care from the medical and insurance system), this book leaves a bit of a bitter taste.
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Summary: a tad too much hype
Review: This book is good as a memoir of someone's life, as Jamison is very in-depth and colorful. However, the title fo the book and the massive amounts of quotes from notorious magazines and newspapers hypes it as an accurate book on manic-depression. Taking the book from this perspective, I found it disturbing as used as a literary reference on the illness. Jamison being privileged makes it hard for the general public to identify, or get an accurate view of the illness. In her book, she makes it known that she was allowed to choose not to be hospitalized against her will, only one colleague/friend seemed to take a major issue with her illness, she was not prejudiced against at her job probably due to the fact that it dealt with psychiatry, and she had very supportive friends and family. At the end of her book she expresses her hope that her book would help fight the stigma, however, I feel that her book only adds to it, as she made it seem rather easy to deal with the illness. Most manic-depressives could only be so lucky. I was also disturbed with how much she hyped lithium, as there are many newer, just as effective pharmaceuticals with far less side effects available now. If this book was supposed to be used as a literary guide to manic-depression, it should be much less biased. However, if you are just looking for a good autobiographical memoir of someone's life struggles, I do suggest it.
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Summary: Easy does it ...
Review: I am quite dismayed at the anger I feel the other reviewers have expressed towards Jamison's apparently privileged lifestyle. I wasn't sure I wanted to get this book although I suspect that I may be bi-polar. But it is the fact that Jamison comes from a privileged background that compels me to now purchase the book. What better platform can any of us have to understand this condition than someone who suffers from it despite having life given to her on a platter. Sure, many of us come from very dysfunctional backgrounds and struggle with many setbacks. It is these problems that make it even more difficult to understand when it is the disease and when it is our prior conditioning that is kicking in. My hat is off to Jamison for having the guts and being humble enough to admit her problems. To place oneself in a fishbowl for everyone else to observe, and judge, is no easy task. I am looking forward to reading the book. ps
Note that I won't even give my name - so much more for Jamison's courage!
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Summary: endorsed by the those who think they know
Review: This is not a criticism, just an emotional reaction to a book that presumes everything but gives you only an idealised answer to a serious affliction.
First off, I hated the smarmy 'I'm a doctor with honors' tone and the 'My parents are wonderful, had an idyllic childhood' crap. Why? Because it all sounds so FAKE and INSINCERE. Sorry, but that is how she comes across. Spare us the details..and get to the point.
The point she is trying to make, is that lithium is somehow a wonder drug and as long as you have $$$ to spare on psychotherapy then madness is evidently not a factor for you.
Newsflash - anything tested on guinea pigs -yes guinea pigs (apparently our moods are exactly the same as theirs) that makes them not so abnormal (where they hyper in the first place? Where did these psychotic/depressed/manic guinea pigs come from?) is scientifically proven, so it must be right. Oh she makes it sound so easy. Oh, APA must be endorsing this book right and left. Never mind the blunted, staring-eyed lethargic guinea pigs. The truth? I hated this book. It was boring. And it amazed me that someone with manic depression could write without a sense of humour. Granted, everyone's experience of manic depression is different (read the hyposexed Electroboy anyone?) Don't take this and her other book as gospel, just the disneyfication of an illness it really is.
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Summary: Great Bipolar resource
Review: This provides an excellent first-hand perspective of what it's like to have Bipolar Disorder. It's a wonderful reminder that there are many wonderful, creative aspects of people with Bipolar Disorder. It also provides valuable information about the value of combining psychotherapy with psychopharmacology. This is an excellent resource about Bipolar Disorder.
--"If Your Child is Bipolar" author, Sheryl Gurrentz
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Summary: Preferred status and patient-centric
Review: A superbly written and candid account of the inner life of a manic depressive patient. Patient-centric I suppose it had to be, but no mention is made of the victims left reeling in the wake of inexplicably, often explosively, broken relationships with manic depressives and the terrible toll it can take on the victims' lives -- both emotionally and financially. Like most manic depressives, the author subscribes to the myth of the mad genius. If the distribution of creativity, brilliance or genius is greater among manic depressives than in the general population,which she clearly implies, the author fails to substantiate it with appropriate research references.
The triumph of the patient in this story is derived from the unique and extraordinary access she had to some of the best minds and therapists in psychiatry and mood disorders. Her case is a-typical. The vast majority of manic depressives are not so privileged. This book may help them gain a better understanding of their illness. By no means will it gain them the access they need to achieve the state of relative equilibrium that was being experienced by the author at the time of writing.
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Summary: helpful
Review: This is an alright book. I bought it after a few years of thinking that I probably have bipolar disorder. Kay Redfield Jamison's writing is clear, accurate and interesting, though I would not call it beautiful. The book was great about breaking down the specifics of the illness and after finishing I felt I had a better understanding of the illness, felt positive that I was bipolar, and ultimately felt I had a better understanding of why I feel certain ways at certain times. My beef with the book is that she doesn't acknowledge how exceptional her access to resources is. Like when she talks about running up her bills too high (I also have this problem) she just has her brother loan her the money to fix it. When she feels really sick, she has the best psychologist/psychiatrists watching her round the clock. It really doesn't work like that for most people. I am a 22 year-old boy supporting myself totally in NYC. I am broke, have no health insurence and no family members who will financially support me. I'll be lucky to afford seeing a shrink and paying for my medication, while she, on the other hand, had people calling her, watching her, making sure she wouldn't cause herself harm. It almost seems at parts of the book as if treatment sought her, instead of the other way around. if only i should be so lucky. I find it funny that she doesn't bring up how different another patients struggle might be without the priviledges she's had. So, it was kind of frustrating.
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