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Kay Jamison on having manic-depression
"I have often asked myself whether,
given the choice, I would choose to have manic-depressive
illness. If lithium were not available to me, or didn't
work for me, the answer would be a simple no... and it
would be an answer laced with terror. But lithium does
work for me, and therefore I can afford to pose the
question. Strangely enough, I think I would choose to
have it. It's complicated... I honestly believe that as a
result of it I have felt more things, more deeply; had
more experiences, more intensely; loved more, and have
been more loved; laughed more often for having cried more
often; appreciated more the springs, for all the
winters... Depressed, I have crawled on my hands and
knees in order to get across a room and have done it for
month after month. But normal or manic I have run faster,
thought faster, and loved faster than most I know."
-- Kay Redfield Jamison
About the Author
Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, has written several books about the disorder including her autobiographical "coming out" testimony, An Unquiet Mind
Modified December 11, 2002
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