Fires in the Dark

Healing the Unquiet Mind

De: Kay Redfield Jamison

Narrado por: Beth Hicks, Kay Redfield Jamison

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • The acclaimed author of An Unquiet Mind considers the age-old quest for relief from psychological pain and the role of the exceptional healer in the journey back to health.

“To treat, even to cure, is not always to heal.” In this expansive cultural history of the treatment and healing of mental suffering, Kay Jamison writes about psychotherapy, what makes a great healer, and the role of imagination and memory in regenerating the mind. From the trauma of the battlefields of the twentieth century, to those who are grieving, depressed, or with otherwise unquiet minds, to her own experience with bipolar illness, Jamison demonstrates how remarkable psychotherapy and other treatments can be when done well.

She argues that not only patients but doctors must be healed. She draws on the example of W.H.R. Rivers, the renowned psychiatrist who treated poet Siegfried Sassoon and other World War I soldiers, and discusses the long history of physical treatments for mental illness, as well as the ancient and modern importance of religion, ritual, and myth in healing the mind. She looks at the vital role of artists and writers, as well as exemplary figures, such as Paul Robeson, who have helped to heal us as a people.

Fires in the Dark is a beautiful meditation on the quest and adventure of healing the mind, on the power of accompaniment, and the necessity for knowledge.

Your story was timely, honest, and has given me the courage to begin the hard work I’ve avoided for decades

I have always believed to understand the source of my suffering was somehow the key to my living a good life. To be a better person. I realized that this has only been a start. I’ve been in first gear for fifty years. You have helped me see through story that this is only a beginning. I think I may be ready to take on the hard work. Thank you.

No unifying theme

I'm so very disappointed. I have basis for deep professional respect for this author. I've read 2 of her other books at great personal and professional benefit. Her accounts of Bipolar Disorder greatly enhanced my understanding of the disorder. This book is written well enough.
I simply cannot discern a unifying theme that has much to do with the title. Nor does the subject matter of the book have any great connection with the subject matter of the introductory chapters.
I do not, necessarily agree or disagree with her views expressed in these topics.
This does not, in any way constitute any negative aspersions on the author.