Mania Analysis in An Unquiet Mind

A psychological state most frequently marked by excitement, hyperactivity, restlessness and racing thoughts, euphoria, and delusions of grandeur. When Kay Redfield Jamison writes of her experience with states of mania, she describes feeling seductive, powerful, interesting, and beautiful, and she recalls feeling both excited and terrified by her racing thoughts, overtalkativeness, and propensity to spend beyond her means.

Mania Quotes in An Unquiet Mind

The An Unquiet Mind quotes below are all either spoken by Mania or refer to Mania. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Then, too, are the bitter reminders—medicine to take, resent, forget… […] Credit cards revoked, bounced checks to cover, explanations due at work, apologies to make, intermittent memories (what did I do?), friendships gone or drained, a ruined marriage. And always, when will it happen again? Which of my feelings are real? Which of the me’s is me? The wild, impulsive, chaotic, energetic, and crazy one? Or the shy, withdrawn, desperate, suicidal, doomed, and tired one? Probably a bit of both, hopefully much that is neither.

Related Characters: Kay Redfield Jamison (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 68

Explanation and Analysis:

I genuinely believed […] I ought to be able to handle whatever difficulties came my way without having to rely upon crutches such as medication.

I was not the only one who felt this way. When I became ill, my sister was adamant that I should not take lithium... […] She made it clear that she thought I should “weather it through” my depressions and manias, and that my soul would wither if I chose to dampen the intensity and pain of my experiences by using medication. […] One evening, now many years ago, she tore into me for […] “lithiumizing away my feelings.”

Related Characters: Kay Redfield Jamison (speaker), Kay’s Sister (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 99

Explanation and Analysis:

Manic-depression is a disease that both kills and gives life. Fire, by its nature, both creates and destroys. […] Mania is a strange and driving force, a destroyer, a fire in the blood. Fortunately, having fire in one’s blood is not without its benefits in the world of academic medicine…

Related Characters: Kay Redfield Jamison (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 123

Explanation and Analysis:

Mania Term Timeline in An Unquiet Mind

The timeline below shows where the term Mania appears in An Unquiet Mind. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...[her] way to madness.” Although she had, all her life, been “beholden to moods,” the mania Kay experienced in her first few months as a faculty member was beyond anything she’d... (full context)

...herself for years by refusing to take the medications that would level out her recurrent manias. Many patients have the same struggle, and stigma, lack of information, and fear all contribute... (full context)

...long been nervous about writing a book which “so explicitly” delves into her experiences with mania, depression, and psychosis—but she knows that “whatever the consequences” may be in her personal and... (full context)

...was a “marvelous kind of cosmic relatedness” to everything in her life. After weeks of mania, she came to a “grinding halt.” Depressed, lethargic, and plagued by brain fog and exhaustion,... (full context)

...within her mind. College was a constant battle against her ever-shifting moods. When seized by mania, Kay became sensual, outspoken, obsessed with drawing unlikely connections between the many subjects she was... (full context)

These bouts of mania inevitably gave way to depressions which numbed Kay to the world around her, filled her... (full context)

...she can see that she was in remission from manic-depressive illness, largely free from the manias and depressions that had defined the previous several years of her life. She got married... (full context)

Kay Redfield Jamison attempts to describe the “high” of mania—during such states, she says, feelings are like “shooting stars” that grow brighter and brighter. One... (full context)

Kay reminisces about other times her mania caused her to overspend. Once, while picking up a prescription at the store, she purchased... (full context)

Before Kay allowed herself to be medicated, she pushed through her mania by working long hours and shunning sleep. She kept purchasing books and clothes at an... (full context)

...its treatments. Lithium, a mood stabilizer, had been approved for use in the management of mania in 1970, just four years earlier—but Kay was willing to try it in order to... (full context)

...his support would keep her alive “a thousand times over” as he helped her through mania, depression, madness, and despair. Through her sessions with her psychiatrist, Kay learned the totality of... (full context)

...lurching through cloud banks and ethers, past stars”. She felt, at the heights of her mania, as if she could soar past Saturn itself. After the mania cleared and her medications... (full context)

...the devastating effects of resisting psychiatric treatment. Still, it would take many more journeys through manias and depression for Kay to admit that she needed medication. Giving up her “high flights... (full context)

...“simply did not want to believe that [she] needed” it. “Addicted” to the highs of mania, Kay stopped taking the drug and sacrificed everything to experience the ecstasy of mania once... (full context)

...Kay continued to see her psychiatrist—but she went on and off of lithium, cycling through manias and severe depressions as she did. Every time the medication made her feel better, she... (full context)

...therapy. As Kay stood over the man’s bed that afternoon, she empathized with the “delusional mania” he was experiencing and tried to assure him that everything would be all right. She... (full context)

...and a half. Though she was miserable each and every day whether she was experiencing mania or depression, she was unable to commit to taking the medication. Her thoughts became dark,... (full context)

Jamison describes her experience with the violence that her manias and depressions alike inspired in her—she admits to having been “physically assaultive” as well as... (full context)

Kay writes that the flip side of the violent rage her mania brought on is the “fiery” attitude she had most of her life—there existed for her... (full context)

...that some patients had perhaps become addicted, as she once was, to the highs of mania. (full context)

...at a time. Hers was a “tidal existence,” still largely defined by frequent bouts of mania and depression. Still, she maintained an active social life and found that her friends and... (full context)

...happy partnership, there are still times when he fails to fully understand her experiences of mania or depression—and there are times when she fails to be capable of explaining to him... (full context)

...life has become a part of who she is, just as the recollections of past manias have tinged her present with a kind of melancholic longing for the intensity of her... (full context)

Jamison still feels the effects of waves of mania and depression, even having been on lithium for decades—she is well for now, but she... (full context)

Mania Term Analysis

Mania Quotes in An Unquiet Mind

Mania Term Timeline in An Unquiet Mind