An Unquiet Mind free essay sample

Kay Redfield Jamison, born in 1956, starts the book vividly describing her standing outside in the playground, just outside of Washington, looking up at the skies, just as many of the other children would do because, like them, she was a daughter of a man who was in the Air Force. As an elementary school student, Kay recalls a plane flying low to the ground crashing nearby, and the pilot being remembered as a hero for not abandoning the jet and causing the lives of the children in the playground. Kay lived with her father, an enthusiastic meteorologist and Colonel of the Air Force, her mother, a kind, gentle, and caring woman, her brother whom she got along with very well despite their three year age difference, and her younger sister who was rebellious and the â€Å"black sheep† of their family. Kay grew up in many different locations because her father was stationed in those locations as an Air Force officer. We will write a custom essay sample on An Unquiet Mind or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Since she could remember, Kay had a great appreciation for music, poetry, animals, medicine, science, and the skies – most of which was introduced by her father. Kay spent her adolescent years pursuing her passion for medicine and science, and along with her enthusiastic friends, family, and acquaintances she had acquired, she kept herself busy and interested by visiting St. Elizabeth’s psychiatric hospital in D. C. , volunteering for surgical procedures at the hospital in Andrews Air Force Base, and also volunteering at the Los Angeles Zoo to study animal behavior. In 1961, when Kay was fifteen-years-old, her father resigned from the military and took a job as a scientist in California. Kay and her family moved to southern California. This sudden shift in friends and lifestyle, leaving behind a boyfriend, leaving behind a childhood of sports and activities, and diving into a society where everything she had learned from a military-like lifestyle did not provide her useful information in living in the west coast now. Her life fell apart. Having to start fresh in a foreign world was tough and required years of getting used to, but Kay overcame many obstacles and thrived in school and created new friendships. Among these friendships, Kay had a unique, yet intimate, friendship with two attractive athletes; one boy had manic-depressive illness in his immediate family, and the other boy’s mother had shot herself in the heart with a shotgun. She acquired a boyfriend, who was older than her, a student at UCLA, and used him as a means of escape from her pressures and overcoming new barriers in life. In her senior year at Pacific Palisades high school, Kay experienced her full-blown manic episode. Kay portrays her encounter as racing like a crazed weasel, fizzing with plans and enthusiasms, playing sports, staying up many nights with friends or reading, filling manuscript books with poems and plays, talking excessively, and making unrealistic plans for the future (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 36). Kay recalls feeling great about herself, but she finally slowed down. The author explains how she felt terrible, wanted to die, couldn’t clear her mind of horrid images and thoughts, wasn’t able to concentrate on anything, and didn’t want to engage in any sports. (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 37-39). After high school, Kay began attending UCLA as an undergraduate, while she lived through high moods and depression. The personality laboratory in which she spent hours researching interested her very much. After two years at UCLA, she went to St. Andrews in Scotland and studied zoology, pursuing her love for animals since a very young age. After one year of escape from despair in Scotland, Kay moved back and continued her studies at UCLA. She now researches moods with a professor who, like her, had changing moods; they spent hours talking to each other about one another’s moods. After graduating, Kay started her PhD program in psychology at UCLA in 1971. Kay kept herself busy with clinical research, a French artist and husband, internship at UCLA, dissertation in heroin addiction and moods, and becoming an assistant professor at UCLA Department of Psychiatry. Kay illustrates, on page 67-68, how horrible her depressive episodes were immediately following her manic endeavors. She explains how psychotic her manic stages were, but then replaced with worse depressive states. Dr. Jamison now, lived through a failed marriage because of her manic buying sprees. During two of her intense manic episodes, Kay spent more than thirty-thousand dollars on books, music albums, a horse, and other needless things. After mania, when her depression caught up to her because of her illness, Kay felt ashamed, embarrassed, confused, and terrible for what she had done when she wasn’t depressed (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 73-76). Her brother, now an economics professor at Harvard, helped her through her finances, and supported and loved her in every other way. A colleague of hers prescribed lithium to help Kay battle her intense manic episodes. Without the lithium, Kay encountered psychotic manic episodes (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 81), but along with psychotherapy sessions, the lithium kept her life more balanced. After taking lithium, despite the negative side effects of loss of coordination, lack of concentration, and vomiting, Kay’s psychosis cleared (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 90-93). Throughout the next few years of her life, Kay took the lithium when she needed it, but stopped taking it when she felt her mood a bit more stabilized. This brought more frequent and more severe manic and depressive episodes (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 100-103). When she was severely depressed, Kay attempted suicide by lithium overdose, but the attempt failed because treatment and help was sought immediately by her brother and psychiatrist. After being cared for by her colleague, her physician, and her mother, Kay opened up a medical clinic for treating and diagnosing mood disorders at UCLA with the help of two physicians (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 125-127). Kay produced music concerts and television shows respecting composers and artists who had suffered from mood disorders, specifically manic-depressive illness (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 129). Kay met David, a psychiatrist from London, and by spending time with him in California and in London, slowly, her depressed moods elevated and felt more stable than she had felt in a really long time (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 139-146). After David’s sudden heart attack and death in Japan, Kay felt extremely sad, but did not fall into depression. Four years after David’s death, she met an Englishman and started taking lower doses of lithium. This had a positive effect on her: she noticed sounds more loudly, saw paintings more vividly, and was able to concentrate and coordinate her movements and speech exceptionally better (â€Å"An Unquiet Mind†, p. 161). After receiving tenure at UCLA, Kay worked in the medical clinic at UCLA, lectured medical residents, treated patients, and most impressive of all, became a professor at John Hopkins School of Medicine. She currently teaches at John Hopkins as a Professor of Psychiatry. For Axis I of the DSM-IV, Kay Redfield Jamison suffers from bipolar disorder type I, or what she likes to define as manic-depressive illness. In bipolar disorder I, mania is necessary and major depressive disorder is most likely, which is the case for the author. For diagnosis of mania, three or more symptoms should be present, and the author suffers all the symptoms. These include: increased distractibility when she would have to read passages over and over, but still would not comprehend the material; excessive involvement n pleasurable activities such as sex and her irrational, yet expensive buying sprees; inflated self-esteem or grandiosity when she would feel like she was able to juggle everything in her life; flight of ideas when she was able to complete a research paper in one day because her thoughts were racing; an increase in goal-directed activity, like the times. When the author would take on many difficult tasks such as directing the medical clinic at UCLA, teach and lecture resident students, treat and diagnose patients, read many books and poems, and write books and journal articles; a decrease in the need for sleep because in manic moods, Kay rarely slept, and spent endless nights reading and writing; and, more talkative than usual, for instance as an adolescent in high school when her peers would tell her to slow down, and also at the Chancellor’s garden party where she was dressed provocatively and engaged in multiple, long conversations with colleagues. During her depressive states, Kay experienced many symptoms that are likely in MDD: a severely depressed mood throughout her lifetime; loss of pleasure in usual activities such as not playing sports, reading, or listening to music at various points in her life; insomnia; diminished concentration and trouble making decisions when she wasn’t able to read a passage and comprehend it; she did not really experience any specific gain or loss in weight during depressive times; psychomotor agitation when she fell off her horse and at times couldn’t walk straight and sometimes even walked into walls; and recurrent suicidal ideation, and she even attempted suicide by overdosing on lithium. Kay also experienced atypical features (interpersonal sensitivity), melancholic features (anhedonia), catatonic features (disturbed speech), and psychotic features (periods of psychosis, such as grandiosity during mania) of her bipolar disorder. Kay did not have any personality disorders and no diagnosis for Axis II of the DSM-IV. Kay did not possess any medical conditions throughout her life; thus, there is no diagnosis on Axis III of the DSM-IV. For Axis IV of the DSM, Kay did experience some psychosocial stressors during her life. Kay lived through the death of Richard Laurie, a lover whom she was very fond of and cared for very much, and the love and care for her was returned by him. Leaving Washington and moving to strange lands to start a fresh life left behind love and support from many people whom she trusted and loved. The geographic shift may play a role in her bipolar disorder, but the main stressor may come from leaving behind friends and relationships. College after college, studying as an undergraduate, a doctoral student, and a medical director may have put strain on the author. Although Kay was employed at a clothing store during her undergraduate years to help pay for school, her financial burden caused by unemployment may also be considered a psychosocial stressor. Kay’s marriage to Richard, along with her divorce may have also posed as a stressor for her manic-depressive illness. On the final axis, Axis V of the DSM-IV, Kay had periods of high and low functioning, thus calling for two GAF scores. A score of 20 on the GAF is accurate as the lowest functioning ever because she had dangers of hurting herself, and even attempted suicide. She was frequently violent, and had manic excitement. A score of 70 on the GAF is accurate as the highest possible level of functioning because there were times when she had mild depressive moods, had meaningful interpersonal relationships, and slight difficulty in social, occupational, and school functioning. A biological perspective on bipolar disorder, more specifically genetic theory, states that disordered genes predispose people to depression or bipolar disorder. On page 189 of the book, Kay mentions that her great-uncle spent most of his adult life in an asylum. Along with that, Kay’s father and two generations of relatives on her father’s side expressed manic-depressive illness. Earlier in the book, Kay portrays her father as being enthusiastic, intelligent, caring, and talkative, but later on he became depressed all the time, and resorted to drinking. Another perspective on the disorder that we have learned about in class is psychodynamic. The psychodynamic theories state that depressed people are unconsciously punishing themselves because they feel abandoned by another person, but cannot punish that person. The psychodynamic theory, in my evaluation, is not accurate with the disorder that Kay possesses. There was not really anyone in specific that she felt abandoned by, except for Richard, but she did not feel guilt or necessary to punish herself. I believe the book written by Kay Redfield Jamison provides a very accurate depiction of her disorder. At first, she seemed to mind people knowing about her condition because she felt embarrassed or ashamed, but in writing this book and confiding in many of her colleagues about her manic-depressive illness, she is able to let out all her emotions and experiences with the disorder. I had some knowledge about bipolar disorder, but after reading this autobiography I feel like I have first-hand experience to someone suffering from this disorder. I have a lot more knowledge and insight about the symptoms, manias, depressions, and overall moods of someone with manic-depressive illness. Someone who has just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder would probably find this book very informative because it provides such detailed accounts of moods and experiences of someone with the disorder. If a friend of mine was diagnosed with this disorder, I would definitely recommend him/her to read this book because there is a lot that can be learned from the author and her struggles with the disorder. The main reason I would want my friend to read this book is not only because it would give him/her ideas of what to expect with being manic-depressive, but Kay discusses over and over the importance of medications. I would want my friend to have knowledge about, specifically, the importance of regularly taking lithium. Since this disorder is fatal to thousands of people, I wouldn’t want my friend to continue in a devastating path, and despite of lithium’s side effects that Kay vividly portrays, lithium and psychotherapy together can save lives, as is true with Kay Redfield Jamison.

Compass and The Torch Essay Example

Compass and The Torch Essay Example Compass and The Torch Essay Compass and The Torch Essay When growing up children fight to be accepted and to be heard by their parents. In society most parents are constantly on the run and they do not take the time to enjoy spending time with their loved ones. These children try to get attention from their parents, but if their parents do not hear them, then they will feel like they have failed, but because they love their parents they accept it, and do not question their parents behavior. At the same time parents might also try to reach their children, but they get lost and therefore he relationship between the child and the parent can be damaged, because neither Of the parts feel like they get heard. Accepting and the fear Of losing are two of the main themes in the short story Compass and Torch, where a father takes his son with him on a camping trip, where the son tries to talk to his father, but his father does not pay attention and his father tries to forget his anxiety to lose his son. Compass and Torch was written by Elizabeth Beanies, an English writer and was published in 2003. The short story starts in medias rest and the story is built up chronological tit a few flashbacks between the camping trip and at his mothers house. The story is set at two different locations, one location at the boys mother and her boyfriends house and the second location on the camping trip up in the mountains. The short story is told by a third person narrator and is attached to the boy, therefore the story is told from his point of view. The boy adores his father. His father on the other hand, does not seem to be very interested and he does not show any interest when his son shows him his torch or talks to him. Before going on the camping trip with his father, the boy hears his mother talks badly about the father, and the relationship between the boy and his father can be damaged since the boy lives at his mother who does not speak nice about the father. The father is so afraid of losing his son that he forgets to pay attention when his son speaks to him. The boy and his father are both very desperate to spend time together and to be loved by one another, but none of them wants to do something about it. The boy accepts the fact that his father does not pay attention to him, and the ether is not aware of his sons desperation. The boy is eightieth old. He is a flat-round person, since we do not hear much about his looks but what is on his mind instead. He is also a static character, because he does not grow as a person he sticks to whom he was when the story began. He lives with his mother and her boyfriend Jim. His mother does not trust her ex-husband, and she feels the need for telling her husband that they cannot go camping near the edge. Even though Jim is very nice to him, he is still not his own father, and therefore does the boy treat him tit caution. The boy is afraid of opening up for other people since the boy adores his father and he watches his every move. But on the other hand he calls him the man, so it is almost like he forgot his father. When he tries to show his father his torch, his father looks away and the boy does not get upset: Ifs K, the boy decides, that his dad hasnt looked at the torch, hasnt studied it like Jim. (Page 8, line 49-50), and when his father almost cancel their camping trip, he is full of fear even though he had a brief moment where he did not want to go. He seems to be very sensitive but at the same time he tries to avoid confrontation with both of his parents: his father, when he does not listen to him or pay him half attention and when he overhears a conversation between the mother and Jim talking bad about his father. The torch symbolizes the connection between the boy and his father. Its better to have it for a proper purpose, to put it away, to carry it carelessly but with meaning, as a warrior might carry his sword. A torch is for lighting when the time comes, for lighting up the expedition of father and son. (Page 8, line 50-53). It is what keeps them from fading apart, but it can also symbolizes the fathers anxiety to lose his son; The man gently takes away the torch (Page 11, line 166). The son who is so eager to speak and to be acknowledged by his father, and the father who is very afraid of losing his only son one year on from the separation, and therefore he only listen to half of the things that his son says. They are camping up a mountain and the mountain, which symbolizes the foundation of their relationship, and it is as firm as a rock. The main theme in the short story is the fear of not getting acknowledged is en of the struggles that the little boy fights with. The father on the other hand struggles with the fear of losing his son, and he becomes so desperate that he forgets his son and loses him: For years to come, though, in his dreams the boy will see their wild fringed eyes and feel the deep thudding of their hooves. (Page 11, line 169-170). The story shows how important it is to live in the present and communication is one of the most important tools to make a family work. If communication works in the family it is more likely to believe that acknowledging and accepting one another is easier.

Reconstruction Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reconstruction Writing - Assignment Example Andrew Johnson who was the vice president became the president of the United States after the assassination of the president Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a non slave holding individual and he remained loyal to the north and carried a distinct grudge towards the wealthy Southern Planter Class (Zuczek et al, 10). President Johnson was a white supremacist who clashed with the republicans over the reconstruction the liberation and union of the slaves African American. However, Johnson was determined to carry out the reconstruction policies of Lincoln’s (American Experience). Nevertheless, his policies were different from Lincoln’s and the congressmen’s. Johnson favored reconstruction policy, opposed African American equality and supported states rights unlike the leader of the congress in the radical republican who employed harsh punishment of the southern state but also worked towards the African American getting an equal treatment. In contrast to the passive approa ch of President Johnson, the radical republicans had a much tougher approach towards the African American. The republican were idealistic who were mostly driven by an almost religious fervor. The republican congress did not accept the commonly assumed notion that African Americans were inferior and therefore, they insisted on full social, civil and political rights for the former slaves. Furthermore, they were true reformers with very different ideas about reconstruction as compared to President Johnson. In the summer of 1965, the confederates’ state that had remained met Johnson’s reconstruction ideas that none of the constitutions allowed voting rights to African American. Congress refused to seat the representatives of the south to congress and the radicals in the congress were voting for reconstruction to punish the south harshly unlike the plan of Johnson ( Egerton, et al, 359). Also the presidential reconstruction of the southern government limited the African Am erican rights by passing a black code and prohibiting blacks from testifying in court, borrowing money to buy land or renting land. These black codes combined with the reconstruction plan of Johnson widen the wage between the Republicans in congress and Johnson. This was because unlike the reconstruction plan of Johnson the republican’s reconstruction campaigned for equal rights to the African American. The plan that was better according to me is the reconstruction plan of the republican in congress. This is because of many things in their plan. First of all, by waving the bloody shirt of 1866 congressional elections of republican campaign on hatred towards the southerners over the civil war hardships gained the republicans more than 2/3 majority seats in both houses of congress hence getting the power needed to override a presidential vote. Also the republican in congress reconstruction were more harsh on the southern states and more supportive and protective of African Amer ican rights. Secondly, the republican had two types of Republicans which made it better than the presidential reconstruction ( Egerton, et al, 360). The first was the Moderates which were mainly concerned with the economic gains for the white middle class and the north while the second type the Radicals also know as progressive championed for equal righ