Staying On Medication
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison explains that it's very difficult to convince patients to continue with their medications, particularly given the side effects some experience. "I certainly went on and off my medications," Dr....
Response From Family
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison talks about sharing with her family the manuscript that details her story, because "...it's a genetic illness and I didn't want anybody to...be uncomfortable with the idea at all, because it's ...
Manic Depressive Experiences in College and Beyond
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison talks about the episodes of mania and depression she experienced in college, then recalls her years in graduate school as a time of relative stability. All that changed when she began teaching ...
Mania and Medical Emergencies
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison talks about her experiences with mania and the hallucinations that ensued. "I didn't have any option but to get medical care," Dr. Jamison recalls. "And I was very fortunate, I got very good me...
Looking At The Family Tree
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison explains that, while she noticed as a child that her father was sometimes very outgoing and at other times profoundly depressed, "...you don't go around when you're a child and an adolescent......
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...
Decision To Stop Treating Patients, The
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison talks about her decision to stop seeing patients after her book was published and she went public about her illness. "I had written a very personal book," Dr. Jamison says, "and I felt very str...
Psychiatric Illnesses and Creative People
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison says that, in rare instances, "...there's an unusual combination that can occur in some people...where you have someone who's imaginative to begin with, and then give them an intense mood disor...
Psychiatric Medications
Professor of psychiatry and author Kay Redfield Jamison talks about the high levels of Lithium she took early in her treatment. Dr. Jamison explains this was done to "get my mania in line," but also because it was the standard of medical care at the...