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An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
Kay Redfield Jamison, a clinician and researcher of manic-depressive (bipolar) illness, writes about living with the illness herself.
- Author and origin
- Kay Redfield Jamison (United States)Original language: English. First edition: New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995, 223 pages (Open Library catalog record). Vintage paperback: 14 January 1997, 240 pages, now with a new preface by the author (Penguin Random House product page).
- Genre and form
- Nonfiction (Memoir)Memoirs, clinical case collections, popular psychology, self-help, and histories or critiques of psychological science.
- Pairing and evidence
- Clinical or lived narrativeA memoir or clinical case collection. Individual narratives are distinguished from systematic evidence; a paper is paired only where the connection is substantive.
- Sources inspected
- 0 text/abstract inspected, 3 metadata checked (of 3)0 with the primary text or archive/edition record checked, 0 with an indexed abstract read, 3 with bibliographic metadata checked, 0 not verified.
The work and edition history
A first-person memoir by Kay Redfield Jamison, whom the publisher describes as an authority on bipolar illness with firsthand experience of it. The first edition is a 1995 Knopf hardcover; the Vintage paperback followed on 14 January 1997. This profile rests on a publisher page, a library catalog record and a short reference summary. The book itself was not read.
Psychological reading
Read it for the two positions the author holds at once: expert on the illness and person who has it. Questions to bring: what does the memoir show about a mood episode that a symptom list leaves out? How does the author weigh her own account of her state against what others around her saw? When she uses the older term manic-depressive illness, what does the modern label bipolar disorder gain or lose?
Why it earns inclusion
A concrete case for the course material on bipolar and related disorders (section 15.7 is a candidate link, not confirmed). It also gives students a reason to ask what a diagnostic category cannot say about the daily life of one person.
Academic pairing and claim scope
No research paper is paired. The useful comparisons are within this site: the depression memoirs Darkness Visible and The Noonday Demon, and the textbook description of bipolar and related disorders.
Limits and controversies
One person's account. It cannot show how common any experience is or which treatments work, and nothing here is clinical guidance. The publisher's claim that the book has transformed and saved lives is marketing and is not used as evidence.
Evidence behind the claims
The first edition was published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, in 1995.
A Vintage paperback was published on 14 January 1997 (240 pages); the current Vintage edition carries a new preface by the author.
The publisher describes the book as a memoir about bipolar illness by an author who is a leading authority on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness and has experienced it firsthand.
A reference summary describes the book as a first-person account from childhood to the time of writing, covering the illness's effects on family and romantic relationships, professional life and self-awareness.
Authors and researchers
- Kay Redfield Jamison. Clinician and researcher of manic-depressive (bipolar) illness, and author of the memoir.
In the Psy101 course
- OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 15.7: Depressive, Bipolar, and Related DisordersChapter 15, Psychological Disorders. Concept. Suggested conceptual background; a mention of this work in the section has not been verified.Candidate link: bipolar and related disorders.
- OpenStax Psychology 2e, section 15.1: What Are Psychological Disorders?Chapter 15, Psychological Disorders. Historical context. Suggested conceptual background; a mention of this work in the section has not been verified.Candidate link: how a clinician and a patient can describe the same disorder.
Educational reading guide only, not clinical diagnosis or treatment guidance. This course map indicates introductory curriculum relevance rather than clinical proof.See the full course map.
Sources and inspection
Of 3 cited sources, 0 had primary text or archive/edition records checked, 0 had an indexed abstract read, and 3 had bibliographic metadata checked (0 unverified). Literary works and memoirs are distinguished from empirical research studies.
- [3]An Unquiet Mind. (2025). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=An_Unquiet_Mind&oldid=1303169349Consulted sourceReference work. Historical or biographical context.Bibliographic metadata or reference record checkedWikipedia lead extract (research/wiki-extracts-38.json) read in full on 2026-10-23. Used only as a secondary summary of the premise.
- [1]House, P. R. (n.d.-a). An unquiet mind (vintage paperback product page). Penguin Random House (Vintage). https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/86625/an-unquiet-mind-by-kay-redfield-jamison/Publisher or bibliographic record. Work, edition, or catalog record.Bibliographic metadata or reference record checkedProduct page inspected on 2026-10-23 through a model-written page extraction: formats, dates, page count and the first two sentences of the description. Original publication year is not on the page. Book not read.
- [2]Open Library (Internet Archive). (1995a). An unquiet mind (open library work and edition records). Open Library. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2910908WArchive or library record. Work, edition, or catalog record.Bibliographic metadata or reference record checkedOpen Library edition list (editions.json) inspected on 2026-10-23: Knopf 1995 first edition and later editions. catalog metadata only; the book was not read.