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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During a bout of mania, people can bankrupt themselves, lose their job, lose their marriage, lose all their friends, get arrested and possibly die. And it is often a prelude to severe, treatment resistant depression
The episode [Lithium](https://radiolab.org/episodes/lithium) from Radiolab gives a great example of how dangerous mania can be, including recordings of a person in the middle of a severe manic episode. Others have explained it well (risky behavior, delusional, etc.). But hearing someone’s actual experience makes it very clear how it can be a bad thing.
This is like asking why doing lots of cocaine or meth is a bad idea — it feels great! It’s not just the come down. It’s also that people experiencing mania are going much faster than they can control, which can lead to terrible consequences — they have too much sex, they spend too much money, they make life changes that don’t make sense in reality, etc.
From personal experience, with hypomania (which is _sort of_ milder, longer-lasting mania):
Stressful day at work? Let’s tear a new one on any team mate who makes a small mistake.
I’m super wound up? When I see a fight in the street/a bar, I’ll jump in to separate people and play knight in shining fucking armour.
Oh I’m on medical leave (because of mental health issues, of course), and will be earning a lot less than usual? Great time to buy £4k worth of computer equipment.
That’s why it’s bad.
The doctor who diagnosed me mentioned a patient she’d dealt with who lost a whole week of time to a manic episode. Went from a committed relationship, office job, etc., to *employed in a brothel three states away* and had basically no memory of it.
I’ve never had a full-on manic episode. I had a fairly memorable hypomanic event back when I worked in restaurants, though. I worked something like 35 hours over the three days of Valentine’s Day weekend, slept maybe one-third of that, made an entire month’s rent in cash, and then spent *every dime I had* on flowers, chocolate, and jewelry for my new g/f. That was an experience.
My wife has bi-polar and mania is worse than depression in my mind. Mania is very sneaky, the first day or two of a manic episode is pretty nice, someone that frequently has the low energy of depression is super energetic, the house gets deep cleaned and suddenly sex is at the top of the priority list. As the manic episode continues the lack of sleep and the anxious, nervous energy get to be too much to bear and the destructive behaviors start to kick in just so the person can feel something that isn’t a nervous energy. Excessive spending, promiscuity, and cutting are all things that tend to happen in manic episodes as they extend and the frustration builds. Lastly, at least with my wife, after a really high manic episode the depression is EXTREME, she will go from all the things mentioned above to being bed-ridden. When my wife has attempted suicide (cutting is not a suicide attempt) it has been right after a really high manic episode.
I went through a manic episode at the start of the pandemic and it was NOT fun at all. I was a new dad, scared as shit about anything happening to my new daughter. I spent a week having severe panic attacks and pacing my apartment back and forth with no sleep until I finally gave in and went to the hospital. Gave me some Ativan, I slept for the first time in 6 days and it knocked me out of the episode. Haven’t really felt the same since, definitely would not recommend.
You’re picturing mania kind of like a caffeine kick from a good cup of coffee. Mania is more like cocaine, and more than you meant to take. Think extreme, unchecked impulsivity that lasts for days or even weeks, and all the damage that could be done in a state like that. Ever get carried away on a night out and wonder how you spent hundreds of dollars at a club or restaurant or something like that? That, but more intense, and continuing on well beyond the one night of partying.
Mood-wise, it gets characterized as a euphoric state, and for some people it CAN be that, but it’s really more like having an extremely high energy level. For most people that feels great and produces happy feelings, but for some, it’s irritability, anger, high reactivity, aggression, etc.
Another thing no one has mentioned is that mania has negative long term impact on health. The body has to manage the relationship of chemicals that are navigating and permitted. Each time a person experienced mania, their brain is being flooded with hormones and chemicals that simply cannot be tolerated in excess. The unchecked survivors of said condition lose much of their cognitive function as the brain blood barrier is regularly compromised, and the effectiveness of their bodies adaptations reduces. This is why the episodes becomes more frequent and why the depressive episodes worsen as well.
mania is not a disorder, but rather a symptom.
it’s bad because too much of anything is bad. it’s the extreme opposite of depression. you should be feeling balanced or “neutral”. below neutral is depression and above neutral is mania.
also, it is commonly misunderstood that the feeling of mania is just a euphoric feeling, but it is much more intense that. so intense that it can sometimes lead to illogical thinking, hallucinations, and agitation. it can also lead to other detrimental physical side effects such as sleep deprivation.
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