Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperment

This book by Kay Redfield Jamison (the same author who wrote "An Unquiet Mind"), has done a wonderful job writing this book. Not only is it written from a researchers point of view, it also has writings on manic-depressive illness by those who have the illness. Writers like Virginia Woolf and painters like Van Gogh, and the people that loved and cared for them.
It talks quite deeply about what every artist/writer who is diagnosed with manic-depressive illness asks: Will this affect my art? If I take this medication will I lose my inspiration?
These are very valid questions because if an artist is unable to paint, draw or a writer write, then what are they supposed to do? If that is your only way a truly expressing yourself, why do anything to jeopardize that?
Many artists refuse treatment because they feel that the highs and lows of the illness give their art "an edge". They see things they wouldn't otherwise have seen when they are high or low.
One thing it talks about is how the "highs" of manic-depressive illness can get an artist/writer started on a new project, but then the "lows" can give them the vision to "refine" what they had started in their manic phase.
This book also touches on how fatal this disease can be. Artists/writers have been known to commit suicide because of this illness. Virginia Woolf walked into a river and drowned herself. Lord Byron was kept in an asylum and he died from self-starvation. The list goes on.
Not many people are going to read a book like this unless they really have an interest in mental health, have a friend who has this illness, or has this illness themselves. It is my hope that friends/family/patients themselves will learn about this illness and that they have a broad support system. Tell only those you trust. And dont worry, it can be treated, but it may take a while.
Meanwhile, read some books about the disorder and get educated!