Untreated Manic-Depressive Illness
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison says that, when the illness goes untreated, there is a tendency over time for manic-depressive episodes to get more frequent, more extreme and more difficult to treat.
Early Therapy
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison talks about her early therapy experiences and discusses the impact of medications she was taking. "I was in and out of being very psychotic," Dr. Jamison recalls. "I think I was desperate to fe...
Suicide
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison explains that the decision to commit suicide is usually the result of prolonged depression and hopelessness. In some cases, Dr. Jamison notes, those who make this choice do so because they don'...
Support From Colleagues
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison explains that she has had the full support of her colleagues at both Johns Hopkins and UCLA. She adds, however, that some people are occasionally condescending and treat her differently. "It's ...
Suicide and Psychiatric Disorders
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison talks about the irrefutable link between psychiatric disorders and suicide, especially among young people.
Getting It Together: Biomedical Therapies
In recent years biomedical therapies have joined psychotherapies to revolutionize treatment for severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The first antipsychotic drug Thorazine, discovered accidentally, caused side effects,...
Family Reaction to Manic-Depressive Illness
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison reveals that, although manic-depressive illness runs rampant in her family, nobody discussed it when her own symptoms first appeared.
Genetic and Bipolar Illness
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison explains that an individual who has one parent with bipolar illness has a one in fifteen chance of having bipolar illness. The odds go up enormously if both parents have bipolar illness. "If yo...
Getting It Together: Optimal Approach- Psychotherapy with Biomedical Therapy, The
Controlled, multi-site field studies by NIMH indicate that the best outcome for most psychological disorders is a combination of good psychotherapy and medication. Getting people into treatment is one of the hardest things in psychiatric and psychol...
Going to Extremes: Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a disorder in which people lose touch with reality. It commonly strikes in late adolescence after an apparently normal childhood. Thinking becomes fragmented; ideas are irrational, delusional and bizarre. Schizophrenia patients show...