An Unquiet Mind: Epilogue Summary & Analysis

In a brief epilogue, Kay Redfield Jamison considers the question of whether she would—if given the chance—choose to live her life without manic-depressive illness. She has ultimately decided that if lithium were not available, the answer would be no—but because it is, she says she would choose to have the illness, strange as that answer may seem. Though depression is awful, tiresome, and isolating, she believes that the dual nature of her illness has allowed her to feel “more things, more deeply.” She has learned about loyalty, caring, and transparency, and has come to understand both the fragility and the resilience of her own spirit. Her illness, for all it has put her through, has allowed her to find “new corners” in her mind and heart all the time—some have been “grotesque,” but others have given her “limitless views.”