From Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance:
Symptoms of mania - the "highs" of bipolar disorder
- Increased physical and mental activity and energy
- Heightened mood, exaggerated optimism and self-confidence
- Excessive irritability, aggressive behavior
- Decreased need for sleep without experiencing fatigue
- Grandiose delusions, inflated sense of self-importance
- Racing speech, racing thoughts, flight of ideas
- Impulsiveness, poor judgment, distractibility
- Reckless behavior
- In the most severe cases, delusions and hallucinations
Mania phases are also called manic phases.
Through my individual experiences, I find manic phases to be downright pleasant and wonderful. The creative juices start flowing, I have the energy to work on a million projects at once, and everything is good and makes sense. But, the downside is that my judgement begins to degrade as the phase continues. I begin to rationalize activities and purchases that have no real rational reason. I get auditory hallucinations, irrational fears become more pronounced and harder to ignore, and things start falling downhill.
The worst part of mania is the depression that follows. I realize what I have just done, how stupid most of it was, and have to struggle to get myself out of the holes I've created. Mania seems to distance family members more than depression does. My mom can just look at me and tell and then she is upset because she know that I haven't been taking my lithium. My daughter has to deal with the shortened temper and lack of all consistency (what little consistency we have when things are level).
The lure of nonstop energy is almost addicting, but the consequence of when everything crashes is too high of a price to pay. I understand this concept, but it sometimes gets lost.
written on January 3, 2003; modified on January 3, 2003.