Mania

In my last post I talked about the depression side of Bipolar Disorder. Tonight I will talk about the manic side of Bipolar Disorder. Manic episodes or "mania" are no joke believe you me!

Symptoms of mania include:

Mood Changes

A prolonged period of a mood that's unusual for the person is required for a diagnosis of mania. The first two below are part of the specific diagnostic criteria for a manic episode; the others are descriptions of the way these moods may be expressed.

• Abnormally elevated or expansive mood
• Extreme and abnormal irritability
• Easily excited to enthusiasm, anger, agitation or another emotion
• Unusual hostility

Increased Energy

Whether these symptoms are noticed independently by others depends on a number of factors. For example, the change in sleep patterns won't be apparent in a person who lives alone, unless that person speaks about it to others.

• Decreased need for sleep with little fatigue
• An increase in goal-directed activities
• Restlessness

Speech Disruptions

These symptoms are particularly easy for others to notice.

• Incoherent speech
• Clang associations (which can also occur in schizophrenia , schizo affective disorder and other psychotic disorders) 
• Rapid, pressured speech

Impaired Judgment

The first three symptoms listed below are very much related to social situations, and are quite likely to be noticed by family members, friends, co-workers, etc. The last two are often obvious and can have particularly far-reaching consequences. In some cases, however, the manic or hypomanic person will try to hide those behaviors.

• Inappropriate humor and behaviors
• Unusual impulsiveness
• Lack of insight
• Financial extravagance and/or recklessness 
• Hypersexuality

Changes in Thought Patterns

Some of these symptoms can't be observed by anyone but the person experiencing them, but he or she may tell friends and loved ones about them.

• Unusual distractibility
• Enhanced creative thinking and/or behaviors
• Flight of ideas
• Disorientation
• Disjointed thinking
• Racing thoughts
• Increased focus on religion or religious activities

Fluctuations Between Mania and Depression

Finally, a person with bipolar disorder will likely have periods of depression as well as periods of mania or hypomania. These periods are called episodes. A person must have had at least one episode of mania for a doctor to diagnose bipolar I disorder, and both hypomaniac and depressive episodes to be diagnosed with bipolar II disorder.