An Excerpt from Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison's book "A Touch of Fire" about bipolar mental illness ...
I had my 3 month visit with my psychiatrist at Choices Network of Arizona this morning at a cost of $3 co-pay ..... I need my Zyprexa prescription refilled since I can only get a 90 day supply at a time .... To fill the prescription for 90 days costs about $116 with my insurance plan and soon I am hopeful there will be a less expensive generic form. After taking voluntarily and involuntarily so many other medications with extreme side affects, I can truthfully say I like Zyprexa and have no complaints about it and greatly appreciate how it enhances my life and mental functioning. I only take a 2.5 mg dosage daily and find that is sufficient. It is preferred that a patient take the minimal dosage necessary to achieve better mental health and not to be over dosed.
Every time I go to the Maricopa County Arizona mental health organization provider (s) they have completely changed to a new provider, and if the same they have reorganized, and each time I have another new and different Dr .... it is a treat ... a real delight for me and sometimes for the Dr. if he meets my standards otherwise he (my victim of the day) is usually left speechless with my acrimonious critique of his incompetence and ineptness ... I am not a title 19 and as such receive minimal attention since the Arizona budget is deeply in the red by billions, and there will most likely be even more cut backs in mental health services in the County. I also wanted a referral to the PSA Art Awakenings but was informed that is only for title 19 patients..... (sigh), so I will volunteer my time and resources to them directly feeling that I have something to offer they would appreciate receiving.
This morning, my delight and positive reinforcement reward was the immense pleasure of meeting Dr. Robert Westlake, MD (Psychiatry) ... He and I had a great rapport, and we mutually covered a lot of subject matter and updates in just a few minutes (time is valuable to both of us) ..... he recommended I read a book written by Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison titled "A Touch of Fire" .... Ms. Jamison is a psychologist and is bi-polar.... manic depressive .... she also wrote another shorter book called "The Unquiet Mind" .... both books were recommended reading and I greatly appreciate Dr. Westlake, MD introducing Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, MD .
Every time I go to the Maricopa County Arizona mental health organization provider (s) they have completely changed to a new provider, and if the same they have reorganized, and each time I have another new and different Dr .... it is a treat ... a real delight for me and sometimes for the Dr. if he meets my standards otherwise he (my victim of the day) is usually left speechless with my acrimonious critique of his incompetence and ineptness ... I am not a title 19 and as such receive minimal attention since the Arizona budget is deeply in the red by billions, and there will most likely be even more cut backs in mental health services in the County. I also wanted a referral to the PSA Art Awakenings but was informed that is only for title 19 patients..... (sigh), so I will volunteer my time and resources to them directly feeling that I have something to offer they would appreciate receiving.
This morning, my delight and positive reinforcement reward was the immense pleasure of meeting Dr. Robert Westlake, MD (Psychiatry) ... He and I had a great rapport, and we mutually covered a lot of subject matter and updates in just a few minutes (time is valuable to both of us) ..... he recommended I read a book written by Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison titled "A Touch of Fire" .... Ms. Jamison is a psychologist and is bi-polar.... manic depressive .... she also wrote another shorter book called "The Unquiet Mind" .... both books were recommended reading and I greatly appreciate Dr. Westlake, MD introducing Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, MD .
The Bottom Line
Everyone who experiences mania and depression will benefit from reading this book. Every doctor, judge, police officer and criminal or family attorney should be required to read it. And every family member and friend of someone diagnosed with manic depression, especially bipolar I and II disorders, or of someone exhibiting the symptoms, will gain from reading Kay Redfield Jamison's courageous autobiography.
- Skillfully written, without a trace of self-pity.
- Will greatly increase understanding for those who deal with or love someone with this illness.
- Deals well with tough subjects like denial and medication compliance.
Guide Review - "An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Redfield Jamison
An Unquiet Mind is a powerful, uncompromising and illuminating story of severe manic-depressive illness from the informed perspective of a psychologist, psychotherapist and researcher who has lived with the illness for more than 30 years. Kay Redfield Jamison's work clearly illustrates the complex nature of the most deadly form of the illness - bipolar I disorder, severe, with psychotic features.
Manic depression (the author dislikes the term "bipolar disorder") is revealed as a creature of many moods: the seductively effortless well-being, confidence and energy of hypomania; the on- or over-the-edge frenzies of mania; the long, narrow gray prison of depression. Readers will feel the lure of a psychotic flight through the rings and moons of Saturn, share the terror of a experiencing a bloody hallucination, and even gain an understanding of the dark obsession with death and the pressures and rationalizations that led the author to a near-fatal suicide attempt. The importance of mixed episodes - the agitated merge of mania and depression - is emphasized in painful detail.
Dr. Jamison makes an excellent case, through her own experiences, for the need to treat manic depression with both medication and psychotherapy. And the precautionary agreement she describes making with her family and psychiatrist in the event she should become a danger to herself is something anyone who has experienced suicidal impulses should consider.
Manic depression (the author dislikes the term "bipolar disorder") is revealed as a creature of many moods: the seductively effortless well-being, confidence and energy of hypomania; the on- or over-the-edge frenzies of mania; the long, narrow gray prison of depression. Readers will feel the lure of a psychotic flight through the rings and moons of Saturn, share the terror of a experiencing a bloody hallucination, and even gain an understanding of the dark obsession with death and the pressures and rationalizations that led the author to a near-fatal suicide attempt. The importance of mixed episodes - the agitated merge of mania and depression - is emphasized in painful detail.
Dr. Jamison makes an excellent case, through her own experiences, for the need to treat manic depression with both medication and psychotherapy. And the precautionary agreement she describes making with her family and psychiatrist in the event she should become a danger to herself is something anyone who has experienced suicidal impulses should consider.
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