Jamison's Attack Of Mania

Jamison experienced her first attack of mania when she was a senior in high school. Following a life-changing move from Washington to California, Jamison recalls slowly losing her mind. She “raced about like a crazed weasel”, took up many activities, stayed up all hours of the night for consecutive nights, and made “expansive, completely unrealistic plans for the future” (Jamison 36). She also exhibited notions of inflated self-esteem, stating she “felt [she] could do anything” (Jamison 36). Jamison’s friends found her exhausting and constantly told her she was talking too fast or needed to slow down. Following this manic episode, Jamison experienced a depressive episode. During this time, her thinking was “tortuous” and she lost interest and the ability to focus on activities she once loved (Jamison 37). Jamison also …show more content…
In one particular episode, Jamison truly believed that she was chosen by God to “alert the world to the wild proliferation of killer snakes” in the San Fernando Valley (Jamison 76). She bought a drugstore’s entire supply of snake bite kits and conducted a plan to alert the Las Angeles Times of the danger but was too manic to create a coherent plan. Jamison also explains one of her hallucinations while in a manic state. During this episode, Jamison had a general heightened awareness and experience of sounds and music (Jamison 79). When listening to one of her Rolling Stones albums alone in her home, Jamison became disoriented and hallucinated seeing herself covered in blood. This hallucination started in her head and soon she became terrified because she could see in front of her the blood “spattered against the windowpanes, against the walls and paintings, and soaked down into the carpets” (Jamison 80). This horrible hallucination eventually subsided and Jamison phones a colleague would prescribe her the first round of lithium and anticonvulsants she would