Chapter 11 "The Troubled Helix" Summary and Analysis

If manic-depressive illness is genetically based, as most scientists believe, then what can the genes tell us about how to diagnose it early and treat it better? Jamison ponders these questions at a medical conference on current research into the disease attended by, among others, James Watson—one of the co-discoverers of the DNA double helix. The Nobel laureate is absorbed now with the search for the genes that cause manic-depressive illness, according to Jamison.

Fascinated by the new discoveries in molecular biology that have made possible breakthroughs in understanding the genetic basis for her illness, Jamison reflects on the prevalence of the disease in her own family (on her father's side). She also recalls a conversation she had once with the Danish psychiatrist, Mogens Schou, who conducted clinical trials on lithium...