Mood Disorders Expert and Bestselling Author
Kay Redfield Jamison: Biography at a Glance
- Kay Redfield Jamison is the Dalio Professor in Mood Disorders, Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center.
- She is co-author of the standard medical text on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness which was chosen as the most outstanding book in biomedical sciences by the American Association of Publishers.
- While she was pursuing her career in academic medicine, Jamison found herself succumbing to the same exhilarating highs and catastrophic depressions that afflicted many of her patients which inspired her to write her New York Times bestselling memoir, An Unquiet Mind.
- In her latest, Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind, Jamison explores the quest for relief from psychological pain and the role of the exceptional healer in the journey back to health.
- She has written over 125 scientific and clinical articles on mood disorders, suicide, creativity, and lithium and is the author of several other books, including Touched with Fire, Night Falls Fast, Exuberance, and Nothing Was the Same.
- Her national bestseller Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide weaves together a historical and scientific exploration of suicide - and it’s terrible pull on the young in particular.
Videos
Biography
Kay Redfield Jamison is the Dalio Professor in Mood Disorders, Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and co–director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center. She is also an Honorary Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is co–author of the standard medical text on manic–depressive (bipolar) illness, which was chosen as the most outstanding book in biomedical sciences by the American Association of Publishers, and author of Touched with Fire, An Unquiet Mind, Night Falls Fast, Exuberance, and Nothing Was the Same. In her latest, Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind, Jamison explores the quest for relief from psychological pain and the role of the exceptional healer in the journey back to health.
Dr. Jamison has written more than 125 scientific and clinical articles about mood disorders, suicide, creativity, and lithium. Her memoir, An Unquiet Mind, which chronicles her own experience with manic–depressive, or bipolar illness, was on The New York Times bestseller list for five months and translated into thirty languages. Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide was a national bestseller and was selected by The New York Times as a Notable Book of the Year. Exuberance: The Passion for Life was selected by The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, and The San Francisco Chronicle as one of the best books of the year and by Discover magazine as one of the best science books of the year.
Dr. Jamison has been awarded numerous honorary degrees, including from the University of St. Andrews (Literature), Brown University (Medical Sciences), and the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (Divinity). She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the recipient of numerous literary and scientific awards, including the Lewis Thomas Prize, the Sarnat Prize from the National Academy of Medicine, and a MacArthur Fellowship. Her book about Robert Lowell, Robert Lowell: Setting the River on Fire, was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist.
Topics
Touched With Fire: Mood Disorders, The Arts, and Creativity
A possible link between ‘madness’ and genius is one of the oldest and most persistent of cultural notions; it is also one of the most controversial. The lecture will present evidence for significantly increased rates of depression and bipolar illness in writers and artists, discuss possible reasons for these elevated rates, and open up discussion about potential clinical and ethical concerns.
Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., is the Dalio Family Professor in Mood Disorders and Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is also Honorary Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is the co-author of the standard medical text on bipolar illness and author of Touched With Fire, An Unquiet Mind, Night Falls Fast, Exuberance, and Nothing Was the Same.
An Unquiet Mind: Professional and Personal Insights About Living With Depression and Bipolar Illness
Depression and The Workplace: What Every Employer Needs To Know
Passion: The Key To Leadership
What makes a great leader? Is it a strategic mind or a powerful voice? A diplomatic brain or an eye for detail? According to Kay Redfield Jamison, it’s something more innate.
Exuberance is the key. The fuel for humanity’s most creative and scientific achievements, exuberance, puts people in the mood to act, creating CEOs and community leaders that people want to follow. Using her extensive research, Jamison outlines the profile of a leader, breaking down the brain to its essential parts, and showing how passion may be all you need for effective leadership.
