Bryan Ingram

Bryan Ingram asked Kay Redfield Jamison:

How does Robert Lowell relate to the vast community of people living healthily with mental illness?

Kay Redfield Jamison Bryan, Robert Lowell in many ways was not at all typical of people with mental illness—he was a great poet, by definition extremely unusual, and he came from a privileged background that allowed him access to unusually good psychiatric treatment. But he knew the suffering that comes with severe depression and mania, perhaps even more so than most because he had a particularly virulent form of manic-depression / bipolar disorder (he was hospitalized for his illness nearly twenty times). His poetry and other writing is remarkably powerful in capturing not only what mania and depression are like to experience, but the pain associated with them. He was also deeply courageous in dealing with his mental illness, which I write about this extensively in “Robert Lowell : Setting the River on Fire”.

More Answered Questions

Bookwormthings

Bookwormthings asked Kay Redfield Jamison:

Although Art may imitate life, life may not imitate art. How difficult did you find it separating the poetry from the man and his illness? I always feel there is a danger in some biographies that the 'art' in this case the poetry, is overinterpreted with the benefit of hindsight. (As a UK person I regret to say that I am currently ignorant of his poetry although would welcome recommendations.)

Carrie Ballom

Carrie Ballom asked Kay Redfield Jamison:

Thank you for sharing your story and Mr Lowell's, both about intelligent, creative people, to challenge the stigma of mental illness. As a nurse and mental health professional with a Autism Spectrum Disorder, I regularly encounter ignorance about what that means, even from other professionals. How can those of us with neurological and mental health conditions shrug off this burden of stigma from society?

Caitlin

Caitlin asked Kay Redfield Jamison:

I first read An Unquiet Mind when I was 16, and since then I have recommended it to countless people. To me, it is timeless, it is a classic. Did you have any idea how much your very personal story would resonate with so many people when you first wrote it?

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Kay Redfield Jamison

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