Johns Hopkins MedicineRenowned Johns Hopkins Psychologist Releases New Book – “Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind”

Exploring the Landscape of Suffering and Healing: Insights from History and Personal Experience

Johns Hopkins psychologist and author, Kay Redfield Jamison, has released a new book titled Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind. The book delves into the history of suffering and the various paths towards healing, drawing from a wide range of sources and historical events.

Key Points

• The book is a deep dive into psychological suffering and the process of recuperation.
• It discusses how psychotherapy, medicine, rituals, art, nature, religion, love, and music can bring comfort.
• The book begins with a recounting of World War I and the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele.
• It includes stories of healing through history and emphasizes that healing requires active engagement of the imagination, learning, and seeking.
• The book suggests that healing is not the same as being cured. The goal is not always to eradicate pain, but rather to understand and accept it.

“Psychotherapy and medication underpin the modern treatment of mental suffering. Thanks to science, they continue to evolve. But to heal requires more: active engagement of the imagination, learning, and seeking.”
— Kay Redfield Jamison, the Dalio Professor in Mood Disorders and a Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins

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