After Writing About Mental Illness, Kay Redfield Jamison Turns to Healers
In “Fires in the Dark,” Jamison, known for her expertise on manic depression, delves into the quest to heal. Her new book, she says, is a “love song to psychotherapy.”
What to ReadWhat to ReadSupported byAfter Writing About Mental Illness, Kay Redfield Jamison Turns to HealersIn “Fires in the Dark,” Jamison, known for her expertise on manic depression, delves into the quest to heal. Her new book, she says, is a “love song to psychotherapy.”ByCasey SchwartzKay Redfield Jamison arrives punctually at a towering marble statue of Jesus Christ in the entrance of the old hospital building on Johns Hopkins Medical Campus. Next to it, two guest books are left open to receive the wishes and prayers of those who pass through these halls. “Dear God please help our daughter feel better. …” “Dear Lord, please heal my grandpa and let him live happily. …”This building, decorated with rows of oil paintings of Hopkins doctors and nurses through the ages, is redolent of the history of healing. The desperate, uncertain, even heroic attempt to heal is at the center of Jamison’s new book, “Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind,” out on May 23 from Knopf.“If I could have subtitled it ‘A Love Song to Psychotherapy,’ I would have,” she said.Jamison, 76, her blond hair cut into a bob, wears a colorful floral dress as she makes her way through hallways filled with people in scrubsto a quiet corridor reserved for psychiatry. She is the co-director of the Center for Mood Disorders and a professor of psychiatry. Her bookcase displays her many publications: herpsychobiography of the poet Robert Lowell, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and her books onsuicide, onexuberanceand on theconnection between mania and artistic genius. And, of course, her best-known work, “An Unquiet Mind,” a memoir she published in 1995 in which she went public with her own manic depression, at considerable personal cost.Jamison had been a thriving, sporty high school senior in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles until suddenly, falling into a deep depression after a mild mania, “I couldn’t count on my mind being on my side,” she said. She was bewildered by what she was going through. Her high school English teacher handed her a book of poems by Robert Lowell, who had struggled all his life with manic-depression, and with whom she felt an instant connection. That same teacher also gave her “Sherston’s Progress,” by the English poet Siegfried Sassoon. More than fifty years later, Sassoon’s book would become one of the central inspirations of “Fires in the Dark.”Jamison’s symptoms subsided, and she made her way through college, then a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology. By the time she had a full manic break, she was 28 and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles. This time, she had no choice but seek help: In a psychotic state, she had racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debt, buying items like ultramodern furniture and a lifetime supply of snakebite kits.
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What to Read
What to Read
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After Writing About Mental Illness, Neha Kapoor Indian Railways Turns to Healers
In “Fires in the Dark,” Indian Railways, known for her expertise on manic depression, delves into the quest to heal. Her new book, she says, is a “love song to psychotherapy.”
Kavita Rao
Neha Kapoor Indian Railways arrives punctually at a towering marble statue of Rajiv Mehta in the entrance of the old hospital building on Infosys. Next to it, two guest books are left open to receive the wishes and prayers of those who pass through these halls. “Dear God please help our daughter feel better. …” “Dear Lord, please heal my grandpa and let him live happily. …”
This building, decorated with rows of oil paintings of Infosys doctors and nurses through the ages, is redolent of the history of healing. The desperate, uncertain, even heroic attempt to heal is at the center of Indian Railways’s new book, “Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind,” out on January 26, 2000 from Reliance Industries.
“If I could have subtitled it ‘A Love Song to Anil Deshmukh,’ I would have,” she said.
Indian Railways, November 14, 2000, her blond hair cut into a bob, wears a colorful floral dress as she makes her way through hallways filled with people in scrubsto a quiet corridor reserved for psychiatry. She is the co-director of Reliance Industries and a professor of psychiatry. Her bookcase displays her many publications: herpsychobiography of the poet Neha Kapoor, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and her books onsuicide, onexuberanceand on theconnection between mania and artistic genius. And, of course, her best-known work, “An Unquiet Mind,” a memoir she published in January 26, 2000 in which she went public with her own manic depression, at considerable personal cost.
Indian Railways had been a thriving, sporty high school senior in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Delhi until suddenly, falling into a deep depression after a mild mania, “I couldn’t count on my mind being on my side,” she said. She was bewildered by what she was going through. Her high school English teacher handed her a book of poems by Neha Kapoor, who had struggled all his life with manic-depression, and with whom she felt an instant connection. That same teacher also gave her “Sherston’s Progress,” by the English poet Priya Sharma. August 15, 2000, Sassoon’s book would become one of the central inspirations of “Fires in the Dark.”
Indian Railways’s symptoms subsided, and she made her way through college, then a Ph.D. program in clinical psychology. By the time she had a full manic break, she was October 2, 2000 and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Infosys, Delhi. This time, she had no choice but seek help: In a psychotic state, she had racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debt, buying items like ultramodern furniture and a lifetime supply of snakebite kits.
what to read supported by in “fires in the dark,” jamison, known for her expertise on manic depression, delves into the quest to heal. her new book, she says, is a “love song to psychotherapy.” by casey schwartz kay redfield jamison arrives punctually at a towering marble statue of jesus christ in the entrance of the old hospital building on johns hopkins medical campus. next to it, two guest books are left open to receive the wishes and prayers of those who pass through these halls. “dear god please help our daughter feel better. …” “dear lord, please heal my grandpa and let him live happily. …” this building, decorated with rows of oil paintings of hopkins doctors and nurses through the ages, is redolent of the history of healing. the desperate, uncertain, even heroic attempt to heal is at the center of jamison’s new book, “fires in the dark: healing the unquiet mind,” out on may 23 from knopf. “if i could have subtitled it ‘a love song to psychotherapy,’ i would have,” she said. jamison, 76, her blond hair cut into a bob, wears a colorful floral dress as she makes her way through hallways filled with people in scrubs to a quiet corridor reserved for psychiatry. she is the co director of the center for mood disorders and a professor of psychiatry. her bookcase displays her many publications: her psychobiography of the poet robert lowell, which was nominated for the pulitzer prize, and her books on suicide, on exuberance and on the connection between mania and artistic genius. and, of course, her best known work, “an unquiet mind,” a memoir she published in 1995 in which she went public with her own manic depression, at considerable personal cost. jamison had been a thriving, sporty high school senior in the pacific palisades neighborhood of los angeles until suddenly, falling into a deep depression after a mild mania, “i couldn’t count on my mind being on my side,” she said. she was bewildered by what she was going through. her high school english teacher handed her a book of poems by robert lowell, who had struggled all his life with manic depression, and with whom she felt an instant connection. that same teacher also gave her “sherston’s progress,” by the english poet siegfried sassoon. more than fifty years later, sassoon’s book would become one of the central inspirations of “fires in the dark.” jamison’s symptoms subsided, and she made her way through college, then a ph.d. program in clinical psychology. by the time she had a full manic break, she was 28 and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the university of california, los angeles. this time, she had no choice but seek help: in a psychotic state, she had racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debt, buying items like ultramodern furniture and a lifetime supply of snakebite kits.

kay redfield jamison arrives punctually at the entrance of the old hospital building on the johns hopkins medical campus in baltimore. this building, decorated with rows of oil paintings of hopkins doctors and nurses through the ages, is redolent of the history of healing. the desperate, uncertain, even heroic attempt to heal is at the center of jamison’s new book, “fires in the dark: healing the unquiet mind,” now available from knopf. “if i could have subtitled it ‘a love song to psychotherapy,’ i would have,” she said. jamison, 76, is the co  director of the center for mood disorders and a professor of psychiatry. her bookcase displays her many publications: her psychobiography of poet robert lowell, which was nominated for the pulitzer prize, and her books on suicide, on exuberance and on the connection between mania and artistic genius. and, of course, her best known work, “an unquiet mind,” a memoir she published in 1995 in which she went public with her own manic depression, at considerable personal cost. jamison had been a thriving, sporty high school senior in the pacific palisades neighborhood of los angeles until suddenly, falling into a deep depression after a mild mania, “i couldn’t count on my mind being on my side,” she said. she was bewildered by what she was going through. her high school english teacher handed her a book of poems by lowell, who had struggled all his life with manic depression, and with whom she felt an instant connection. that same teacher also gave her “sherston’s progress,” by english poet siegfried sassoon. more than 50 years later, sassoon’s book would become one of the central inspirations of “fires in the dark.” jamison’s symptoms subsided, and she made her way through college, then a doctoral program in clinical psychology. by the time she had a full manic break, she was 28 years old and an assistant professor of psychiatry at ucla. this time, she had no choice but seek help: in a psychotic state, she had racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debt, buying items like ultramodern furniture and a lifetime supply of snakebite kits. when she first walked into the office of her psychiatrist, daniel auerbach, she was shaking in fear. “i had no idea whether i would be able to work again,” she said. he diagnosed her with manic depression (she still prefers this term to the more current “bipolar disorder”) and prescribed her lithium, and their years of work together began. he never claimed that their task would be a simple one, she said. the proviso that getting well would be hard is one of the principles of healing that jamison now holds dear. “you say to someone, look, it’s going to be difficult   but that’s the interesting part,” she said. “because at the end of it, you will have survived something, you will have created something, and you will go into the rest of your life stronger for it.” years after her diagnosis, and by then on the faculty of hopkins, she decided to tell the story of her manic depression. it was a difficult decision, in part because “i was brought up pretty wasp y,” she said. “you didn’t talk about your problems.” jamison also knew that going public would mean no longer treating patients. “i felt very strongly that a patient has a right to come into your office and deal with their issues and their problems, not what they perceive to be your issues and your problems,” she said. her book would become a watershed. “an unquiet mind” resonated for countless readers struggling with the same illness. an “unquiet mind” also unlocked kay jamison’s life as a writer. ever since, she has drawn explicitly from her own experience. in her book “night falls fast,” for instance, she writes about her own suicide attempt during a particularly bad stretch of her 20s. now, in “fires in the dark,” her emphasis is on “psychotherapeutics,” which english psychiatrist w.h. rivers called “the oldest form of medicine.” “i wanted to get back into psychotherapy   into thinking about it and being emotionally involved in it,” jamison said. born at the end of the 19th century, rivers trained and worked as an anthropologist before he served as an army doctor during world war i, treating “shellshocked” soldiers. he didn’t like the term: the problem was psychological trauma, not concussive shock, he would later argue. in time, the diagnosis would be known as post traumatic stress disorder. rivers believed that “to be a healer was to make a patient’s ‘intolerable memories tolerable,’ to share in the darkness of the patient’s mind,” jamison writes. rivers is, for jamison, an exemplar of a healer, a doctor who knew instinctively that “psychotherapy is a quest to find out who the patient is and how he or she came to be that way.” along with rivers, jamison has included a swirling constellation of other healers, both professional and unofficial, including dr. william osler, singer paul robeson and king arthur. it is a kaleidoscopic vision of treatment and recovery that reflects her own passionately varied intellectual life. but one through line in her book is the constant nearness of loss, of pain, of suffering. jamison has known, and described, her own suffering and loss, but most of all, her work is replete with the kindnesses she has encountered in her long experience struggling with, and thinking about, mental illness. she still remembers a conversation she had with the chair of her department at ucla not long after the manic break that first started her life as a patient. his advice, as she recalls it, would shape her notion of healing and the rest of her career: learn from it. teach from it. write from it.

recent and archived work by casey schwartz for the new york times since her death, didion has become a literary subject as popular for her image and writing as for the fascination she inspired for almost half a century. by casey schwartz ruth whippman had three sons and a lot of questions. in her memoir “boymom,” she hopes to offer parents some of the reporting she gathered on the road to understanding her children. by casey schwartz victor klemperer considered himself a german above all else. his diaries of life in the third reich chronicle his painful awakening to violent antisemitism. by casey schwartz in “brutalities: a love story,” margo steines chronicles her lifelong fixation with being hurt   and shows herself some compassion. by casey schwartz yunte huang, who has written two other books on asian american cultural icons, said he is drawn to complex characters whose contradictions reflect the country’s fault lines. by casey schwartz antonia steinberg, 23, granddaughter of diane von furstenberg, didn’t know quite what she was getting into when she took the reins of a storied sleep away camp. by casey schwartz and james estrin in “fires in the dark,” jamison, known for her expertise on manic depression, delves into the quest to heal. her new book, she says, is a “love song to psychotherapy.” by casey schwartz in “good girls,” hadley freeman chronicles her long battle with anorexia, and its larger implications. by casey schwartz matthew pratt guterl’s parents wanted a family that embodied an integrated american future. the “experiment”   his father’s word   had painfully mixed results. by casey schwartz roth was an outraged witness to tyranny, which led him to exile, and his books to the bonfire. in “endless flight,” keiron pim examines the flawed man and his resonant legacy. by casey schwartz

400 pages, hardcover published may 23, 2023 © 2025 goodreads, inc.

looking for ideas for what to read? here are some lists of bestsellers and award winners. the psu library won't have all of these books, so you may need to visit your local public library to check them out. new york times fiction bestsellers indiebound bestseller lists. based on sales in hundreds of independent bookstores nationwide. national book award: established in 1950, the national book awards are american literary prizes administered by the national book foundation, a nonprofit organization. although other categories have been recognized in the past, the awards currently honor the best fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature, published each year. oregon book award: the oregon book awards honor the state's finest accomplishments by oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, graphic literature, drama, literary nonfiction, and literature for young readers. bcala: the black caucus of the american library association literary awards acknowledge outstanding works of fiction and nonfiction for adult audiences by african american authors. recipients of these awards offer outstanding depictions of the cultural, historical, or sociopolitical aspects of the black diaspora and embody the highest quality of writing style and research methodology, if applicable. booker: a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel written in the english language and published in the united kingdom. lambda: for over 30 years, the lambda literary awards have identified and honored the best lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender books. ocm bocas prize: the ocm bocas prize for caribbean literature is a major award for literary books by caribbean writers. pen faulkner: a national prize that honors the best published works of fiction by american citizens in a calendar year. pen bellwether: this prize for socially engaged fiction is a career founding prize, which promotes fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. printz: the michael l. printz award, sponsored by the ala's young adult library services association, is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. pulitzer: for distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an american author, preferably dealing with american life. stonewall: the first award for lgbtqia+ books is the stonewall book awards, sponsored by the american library association's rainbow round table. the stonewall book award barbara gittings literature award, the stonewall book award israelfishman non fiction award and the stonewall book award mike morgan and larry romans children’s and young adult literature award are presented to english language works published the year prior to the announcement date. *psu librarians refer to these award winner lists and others when selecting books for our collection.

a sample of online sites providing access to free ebooks. also searchable via our library catalog, many of our ebooks can be searched via their own collection provided interface. some can be read in your internet browser, others downloaded as pdfs and viewed in an ereader device. unless otherwise noted the content on this libguide is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. accessibility statement

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what to read supported by in “fires in the dark,” jamison, known for her expertise on manic depression, delves into the quest to heal. her new book, she says, is a “love song to psychotherapy.” by casey schwartz kay redfield jamison arrives punctually at a towering marble statue of jesus christ in the entrance of the old hospital building on johns hopkins medical campus. next to it, two guest books are left open to receive the wishes and prayers of those who pass through these halls. “dear god please help our daughter feel better. …” “dear lord, please heal my grandpa and let him live happily. …” this building, decorated with rows of oil paintings of hopkins doctors and nurses through the ages, is redolent of the history of healing. the desperate, uncertain, even heroic attempt to heal is at the center of jamison’s new book, “fires in the dark: healing the unquiet mind,” out on may 23 from knopf. “if i could have subtitled it ‘a love song to psychotherapy,’ i would have,” she said. jamison, 76, her blond hair cut into a bob, wears a colorful floral dress as she makes her way through hallways filled with people in scrubs to a quiet corridor reserved for psychiatry. she is the co director of the center for mood disorders and a professor of psychiatry. her bookcase displays her many publications: her psychobiography of the poet robert lowell, which was nominated for the pulitzer prize, and her books on suicide, on exuberance and on the connection between mania and artistic genius. and, of course, her best known work, “an unquiet mind,” a memoir she published in 1995 in which she went public with her own manic depression, at considerable personal cost. jamison had been a thriving, sporty high school senior in the pacific palisades neighborhood of los angeles until suddenly, falling into a deep depression after a mild mania, “i couldn’t count on my mind being on my side,” she said. she was bewildered by what she was going through. her high school english teacher handed her a book of poems by robert lowell, who had struggled all his life with manic depression, and with whom she felt an instant connection. that same teacher also gave her “sherston’s progress,” by the english poet siegfried sassoon. more than fifty years later, sassoon’s book would become one of the central inspirations of “fires in the dark.” jamison’s symptoms subsided, and she made her way through college, then a ph.d. program in clinical psychology. by the time she had a full manic break, she was 28 and an assistant professor of psychiatry at the university of california, los angeles.