Bipolar Scientist Shares Story

As a senior in high school, Kay Redfield Jamison spent her days contemplating killing herself. At age 28, after years of debilitating depression, she overdosed on lithium in a suicide attempt that landed her in a coma.

Last night, Jamison, now a Johns Hopkins Medical School psychiatry professor specializing in bipolar disorder, reflected on her own struggles with manic depression. She told a crowd of mostly students that the widespread reluctance to come forward with mental health issues is a major public health problem.

“Such privacy and reticence can kill,” she said, noting that many people are afraid of the repercussions of making their mental health issues public.

Jamison, the author of the widely acclaimed memoir “An Unquiet Mind,” uses her unique perspective to inform her role as both a physician and teacher in the mental health field. In her talk, Jamison discussed the process of going public despite the stigma associated with mental illness.

“If I couldn’t go public about it, who could...Who should?” said Jamison, whose appearance was part of Mental Health Awareness Month, co-sponsored by the Undergraduate Council (UC) and the Mental Health Awareness and Advocacy Group (MHAAG).

But “coming out” for Jamison wasn’t easy. She said she still receives hate letters, some from evangelical Christians who blame her illness on insufficient prayer.

Erika L. Tschinkel ’09 said she was impressed with Jamison’s talk.

“She’s a real warrior, with all the things she’s been through. She’s an incredible speaker. Her views on going public help a lot of people,” Tschinkel said.

MHAAG Co-Chair Eunice Yang ’08, who organized the kick-off event, was thrilled with the number of people in attendance. The event had to be moved to a large Emerson lecture hall due to the greater-than-expected turnout.

“To have so many people come to an event is really, really gratifying,” she said.

UC President Ryan A. Petersen ’08, who was present at the event, said that “Mental Health Awareness Month” was a great opportunity to raise awareness among students. The UC is currently working on calendar reform and improving proctor training for mental health issues, among other proposals.

“It’s an issue that affects a lot of students, whether severely or mildly, and students told us that mental health issues resonated with them during the UC election,” Petersen said.

—Staff writer Shoshana S. Tell can be reached at stell@fas.harvard.edu.