An Unquiet Mind by Redfield Jamison - Essay Example

Jamison experienced true mania at an early age while in high school during which she felt exhausted, frightened, and preoccupied with death. She narrates her illness by pointing out various symptoms such as thoughts of committing suicide, feelings of guilt, making impaired judgments, and sleeping for a short while but feeling always energetic. Through her memoir it is also clear that she was unable to concentrate, she experienced mental and physical sluggishness and this seriously affected her work negatively. Talking rapidly is also another symptom that affected Jamison's relationships with friends, colleagues, and even relatives. Many people were not able to cope with her, or if they did then they persevered a lot (Frederick & Jamison 22). Manic depression affected Jamison in many ways, both at home and in the workplace. All these symptoms are severe, and they almost led to a suicide attempt. She acted out of emotions without thinking of the repercussions. She also encountered mixed episodes; a restless merge of depression and mania that is extremely painful. Through her own experiences, Dr. Jamison points out that manic depression should be treated with both psychotherapy and medication.

            Having attempted to commit suicide, her relationship with her family members changed drastically since people started looking at her as a danger to herself. She received close monitoring from time to time, and everyone got concerned about her life (Jamison 4). Despite suffering from this disease, she went ahead to study this profession since she had an interest in medicine. Before people knew about this disease, she felt a lot of rejection and they were even hostile to her because her behavior kept on changing negatively.                                                 
Through strong support from colleagues, family members, and friends, exceptional psychiatric care, and having accepted the illness, Jamison has been able to get to a reasonable level of medication. At this level, she encounters fewer side effects and dampened mood swings. However, she insists that she has to stay on lithium to remain strong and healthy. It is explicitly clear that the main reason why Jamison came out clear on his health condition is to educate other people, inform them, and advocate for better treatment.                                                         
The author’s discussion of how she felt during her illness is fascinating and even vivid. She enables us to be aware of the seductiveness of bipolar disorder, its intensity, and also how hard it is to go through the situation. While on medication Jamison used lithium which has various side effects such as inability to work, black periods, and antisocial behavior. She is required to cope with colleagues at work and family members who are seriously concerned about her health.                                                                                                                       
Jamison’s ironic struggle to disagree with her illness and avoid drugs that can heal her from the illness is not unusual among medical professionals. It is also not strange to come across medical experts who have suffered from the disease that they specialize in treating.