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Kay Redfield Jamison

Kay Redfield Jamison Quotes

Psychologist

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Famous Kay Redfield Jamison Quotes

“I have often asked myself whether, given the choice, I would choose to have manic-depressive illness. If lithium were not available to me, or didn't work for me, the answer would be a simple no... and it would be an answer laced with terror. But lithium does work for me, and therefore I can afford to pose the question. Strangely enough, I think I would choose to have it. It's complicated.”

IfsThinkingDoeI CanEnoughWould BeChoicesGivenSimpleAnswersIllnessTerrorAvailableComplicatedBipolarManicDepressiveLithium
Book:An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
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“Others would say to me, 'It is only temporary, it will pass, you will get over it,' but of course they had no idea how I felt, although they were certain that they did. Over and over and over I would say to myself, If I can't feel, if I can't move, if I can't think, and I can't care, then what conceivable point is there in living?”

IfsThinkingFeelsI CanIdeasCareMovingCertainCoursesFeltNo IdeaOver ItTemporaryGet Over
Book:An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
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“Suicide is a particularly awful way to die: the mental suffering leading up to it is usually prolonged, intense and unpalliated. There is no morphine equivalent to ease the acute pain, and death, not uncommonly, is violent and grisly. The suffering of a suicidal is private and inexpressible, leaving family members, friends and colleagues to deal with an almost unfathomable kind of loss, as well as guilt. Suicide carries in its aftermath a level of confusion and devastation that is, for the most part, beyond description.”

WayWellsKindPainSufferingDiesLossLevelsDealsMembersSuicideGuiltLeavingViolentIntenseConfusionAwfulEaseDescriptionCarrieColleaguesSuicidalFamily MembersAftermathDevastationUnfathomableMorphine
Book:Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide
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“St. Andrews provided a gentle forgetfulness over the preceding painful years of my life. It remains a haunting and lovely time to me, a marrow experience. For one who during her undergraduate years was trying to escape an inexplicable weariness and despair, St. Andrews was an amulet against all manner of longing and loss, a year of gravely held but joyous remembrances.”

TryingYearsLossDespairRemainsLongingPainfulLovelyGentleRemembranceHauntingJoyousForgetfulnessWearinessAndrewInexplicableMarrowUndergraduateAmulets
Book:An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
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“The Chinese believe that before you can conquer a beast you first must make it beautiful. In some strange way, I have tried to do that with manic-depressive illness. It has been a fascinating, albeit deadly, enemy and companion; I have found it to be seductively complicated, a distillation both of what is finest in our natures, and of what is most dangerous.”

WayFirstsBelieveHas BeensBeautifulFoundEnemyDangerousStrangeIllnessComplicatedConquerChineseBeastFascinatingCompanionFinestManicDepressiveDistillation
Book:An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
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