Navya Kapoor
In her memoir, An
Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison walks the readers through her bitter-sweet
experiences—full of pain, terror, love and support—of having manic-depressive disorder. From her life as a teenage girl to a grown up, successful working
woman, she describes her struggle with the invigorating highs of her manic
episodes and the dreadful lows of her depressive phases. Reading the DSM V
criteria and assessing the various symptoms of a mental disorder is not as
impactful as reading a case study and seeing a mental disorder come to life.
I chose
this book for my blogpost because it raises some common yet salient questions
about people with mental disorders. One of such questions is if they can
competently take up their work responsibilities, especially in the field of
medicine (Solomon, 2015). Jamison pursued a career in the field of psychology
and became a successful clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, and graduate
lecturer. As mentioned by Andrew Solomon in his introduction to the book, Jamison
succeeded not despite her disorder but as a consequence of it. Her experiences of
manic-depressive disorder provided her with an insider’s perspective of the disorder, which she used to her advantage. From her first-hand experience, she
realized the importance of both medicine and psychotherapy in the
rehabilitation process and used her experiences to give lectures to medical
staff. It also allowed her a unique and profound discernment of her patients’
symptoms and their reasons to resist the treatment. Her experience with the disorder
markedly motivated her to pursue the profession, thereby helping others who may
be going through similar struggles.
However,
the fear of her disorder interfering with her clinical judgment constantly loomed
over her head. She made her best efforts to ensure that her disorder does not
have a negative impact on her patients’ well-being. She informed her colleagues
and seniors in the staff about her disorder, asked them to remove her from her
duties whenever they doubted her judgment, and even cancelled or rescheduled
appointments whenever she deemed necessary. However, the questions that struck
me were: can frequent rescheduling hinder the process of therapy? Is it possible
for every clinician to be equally divorced of their own symptoms while they are
treating their patients? In such cases, another important factor that
influences the efficacy of a clinician’s practice is the type of mental
disorder they have and the corresponding symptoms. For example, a disorder like
schizophrenia would include different categories of delusions, which could
seriously effect one’s clinical judgment.
The question of whether a
person with a mental disorder should be allowed to practice medicine or not is
a sensitive one. Restraining them from practicing medicine would be
discriminating against them but at the same time, several patient’s well-being
and in many situations, patients’ lives are dependent upon them. As
mentioned by her in the book, Jamison “ha[s] been both fortunate and careful” (p.
207) and she has shown that a person with manic-depressive disorder can not
only manage their symptoms, but can also succeed with them. Nonetheless, the larger
question of the feasibility of all persons with different types of mental
disorders to practice medicine remains unresolved. I think this is a sensitive
yet an essential issue which is why it would be fruitful to invest into
research on it.
Another
related issue brought up in the book is the stigma associated with seeking help
by clinicians. Even though seeking therapy by a clinician is distinct from
forming a career in medicine by a person with mental disorder, the two are inter-connected.
This is because clinicians deal with high intensity of emotions on a regular
basis, which makes them vulnerable to emotional disturbances. These
disturbances have even taken the form of mood disorders and in many cases, lead to suicide (Jamison, 1995). Due to
the stigma attached to seeking help by a clinician, clinicians often prescribe
anti-depressants to themselves, which can have catastrophic outcomes. The risk that untreated clinicians and other staff pose to their
patients needs to recognized and seeking help for them needs to be normalized.
Jamison also brings forth the
issues of self-stigma and self-unawareness. Despite being well-versed with
various mental disorders and their symptoms, Jamison does not initially think
of her behavior as abnormal, denying herself treatment for the first ten years
of not feeling fine. Surprisingly, her significant amount of work in the field
and understanding of the stigma associated with mental health does not dissuade
her from being harsh on herself and experiencing feelings of shame, guilt, and inadequacy
for developing the disorder (Jamison, 1995). Thus, I don’t think previous
knowledge about mental health and the stigma attached to it always correlate
positively with awareness about one’s own
ill mental health. I think at one point it boils down to the need to be normal
and fit in with other people around us.
This book not only raises some
vital questions related to mental disorders but also sheds light on several
crucial aspects related to them. Jamison expresses how a check on language—used
to address the sufferers—can help the de-stigmatizing process but how it is not
enough. She explains that vigorous awareness efforts and forceful advancements
in medicine are much needed to change social attitudes about mental disorders.
Moreover, the book reflects on the importance of medication, therapy, and
strong interpersonal relationships. Over and over again in the book, she
emphasizes the role of lithium and the amount of love, support, and help she
received from her psychiatrist, family, co-workers and the men in her life in
dealing with her depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempt.
This book
is inspiring especially for those with bipolar disorder; it humanizes the
disorder and also conveys beautifully that one’s mental disorder cannot always get
the best of them. They can have loving relationships and successful careers
with proper help and medication. However, for those reading it to understand
the disorder, there are some gaps in the book. It does, however, give us a
great deal of insight into how mental disorder can force people to behave in
ways that they otherwise would not have (Jamison, 1995). Jamison is testimonial
to the fact that even though diagnosis and experiencing the disorder can be
scary and debilitating in the beginning, one can learn various ways through
which they can learn to co-exist with their mental disorder and continue with
life like any other person.
References
Jamison, K.R.
(1995). An Unquiet Mind: A memoir of moods and madness. New York: Alfred A. Picador.
Solomon, A.
(2015). Introduction. In An Unquiet Mind.
New York: Alfred A. Picador.
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