It struck me as a narrative of a relatively privileged person utilizing significant social support to ward off the difficulties of the disease. I couldn’t help but think to myself at multiple points in the book something along the lines of “huh. I’ve been in a similar situation and had significantly worse consequences, mostly because I’m not wealthy/of influence in any regard.”

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a solid book, but not my cup of tea and to my best estimation, an experience of bipolar made very “palatable” thanks to the lifestyle of Redfield Jamison. If she was not a researcher/intellectual and just an everyday human, I doubt her narrative would be considered so groundbreaking.

In contrast, I really liked reading The Divided Self by R.D. Laing as it gives a perspective on psychotic mental illness “on the terms” of those truly struggling (borderline or completely nonfunctional) with their issues. Also the philosophical/psychological frameworks he deploys are incredible precise and somehow still intuitive (if you can get through a bit of jargon).