Jamison, Kay Redfield. An Unquiet Mind, a Memoir of Moods and Madness. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.Audience: Memoir lovers and mood survivors, this book is for the adult crowd.
Genre: Memoir
Topics of Focus: Manic depression and moods, their personal effects on the author and her educational life.
Red Flags: Sexuality, violence and drug use are mentioned lightly throughout this book.
An Unquiet Mind was a powerful book full of bitter truth and hope. Kay Redfield Jamison lets us in on her life of moods and the turmoil it can cause not only the victim but everyone around the person it is happening to. The book was a little preachy on government-regulated drugs but didn’t try to hide the fact that most psychiatrists have no idea what they are doing. I found Jamison’s voice strong and permanent throughout. She was clear and precise with what she had to say and didn’t try to color it to hide her mistakes. Jamison never went into great deal about her personal life for it wasn’t a memoir about her, but about her illness. Manic depression is a serious disease that has been overlooked and treated poorly for too long. I can see why it would be easy to over look it; I mean the victim never really knows she has it. Maybe every once in a blue moon she will notice something is very wrong in her mind, but it’s scary to think your mind is messed up. It’s safer and much easier to pretend like everything is normal, for no one could love a sick person. And no one wants to be alone.
Annotation by Mary Jane Baxter
No comments:
Post a Comment