I understand that this is considered a mental health disorder and I’m sure there is a reason why but Mayo Clinic says that mania is characterized by an extremely elevated and excitable mood. It sounds to me like I would enjoy being elevated and excited. Now I totally can see why depression would suck in the case of bipolar especially oscillating between the two, but unipolar mania is a thing too.
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Yeah my dad was a manic bipolar (and unrelated I think also unable to feel any sort of empathy) and while he may have been having fun in his episodes it was like hanging around someone who’s clearly very high on some sort of hard drug. On the more tame side he once tried to order everything on the menu in a restaurant after we already finished eating which was just uncomfortable and embarrassing and on the extreme side he zipped into the driveway running over my 7 year old sisters legs. Mania, in my single experience mind you, is excitement to the point where you’re mentally and physically hurting others or yourself. I have no idea of knowing if thats how others experience it but thats mine.
Some people experiencing the high of an episode might become outgoing and suddenly make new friends. It’s all fun and inspiring and positive until they come down and the new friend discovers that they’re a completely different person – and not always a very nice one – when they’re not having a manic episode. Not pleasant for either party involved.
The problem with mania is that every idea seems like the best idea ever, even if it’s a terrible idea. People experiencing mania make baaaaad decisions.
My friends dad is a psychiatrist in a mid sized town. One of his patients is a secretary who is incredibly introverted and quiet. During a manic episode she “borrowed” her bosses Porsche and drove around naked in it with a fur coat throwing roses on the streets. It sounds absurd and funny at first but she almost took her life because of the shame she felt after the manic episode ended. Especially because people will always remember that and there is no visible cause for this change in behaviour like drugs or alcohol.
Mania isn’t just “feel goodhappy” either… When I’m in a manic state frustration leads to rage really fast… I don’t mean “anger” I mean full blown rage in just the blink of an eye.
I suffer from hypomania. It’s not as bad as the full blown thing.
At first, it’s great. I get the energy to clean up my house. I get the motivation to work on projects. But soon, I’m staying up until 4am when I’ve got work at 7am. Before long, I’m exhausted, but I can’t feel it. Stress builds, and I start to get frustrated that my body can’t do what my brain wants it to. A listless, angry mood starts to take over the happy times, and then I start to snap. I’m so frustrated that all the work I put into my projects turns back against itself, and I start to feel like I’ll never be able to finish. I get physically sick when I think about all the work that’s left, and I start to avoid the project, but I don’t stop thinking about it. Sometimes, I get the urge to burn it all down and start over. I cycle into depression for several months, where I can’t get out of bed, don’t have the energy to do anything but tread water at best. Every day is a living hell and I want to die. I can’t get out of bed. I can’t clean myself. I can’t brush my teeth. All I can do is the bare minimum to stay alive.
Then the cycle starts over, and I get the energy to fix things that I’ve let slide. But the energy doesn’t come back for the same things I was working on last time. I’m excited about something else, and have zero control over what my brain is telling me is a good project to take on this time, so I start another big project.
Mania isn’t fun, and while it can sometimes result in good things, the cost to your mind and body is too high. The worst bit? When you’ve medicated the mania away for long enough, you start to miss how superhuman you felt when you were manic, and start to feel like that’s the level of work you should be able to put in 24/7. You lose perspective on what a healthy work balance is, and are constantly at risk of thinking you are teetering on the edge of a depressive episode, when you are just baseline because of the medication.
Good answers here. To put it as simply as possible, it eventually progresses to where it interferes with your life negatively, due to decisions made in an unclear state of mind.
It is an *uncontrollably* elevated and excitable mood. Imagine feeling like you’re pumped up and super hyper to do something, then you do something but the mood *just keeps going* and you can’t calm down no matter how much you try.
There are two types of mania
1. Euphoria – might sound awesome at first but the feeling of being on top of the world leads people to think they’re invincible or above the law. You think you can write the next best selling novel, accomplish anything! You spend time time and money on your new project only to find out five thousand dollars and a month later, as you come down, no…. No you can’t start a jewelry business of hand crafted gold rings…
It’s a lack of inhibition that can make people disappear to other cities and states as they track down whatever crazy idea they had. It drives a lot of risk taking behavior because they no longer feel there is a risk. At worst you believe you’re a god or something and you end up on the street or strapped to a table.
2. The dark side, dysphoria- that high energy state can just as readily turn into guilt, rage, and frustration. Nothing feels right, the days stretch into nights and into days again as you brood, toss and turn, maybe you even get energy at night, more than during the day -just enough to keep you awake, though, not the fun productive energy. You have just enough energy to act on all the depressive feelings, which you normally don’t, and it’s ugly.
My wife’s childhood best friend has bipolar, during her first manic episode she dropped out of college to start a business with no plan and no money. During a later manic episode she cheated on her husband with a guy twice her age. During another one she quit her job and tried to move across the country, again with no plan and no money.
These life altering decisions were made with zero prior thought, zero planning, zero consideration of the consequences. The time from idea to execution was typically 24-36 hours.
She takes her meds religiously now and is in a much better place. She is well aware that missing her meds for a few days could send her on a spiral that costs her everything she has worked for.
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