Mania has been documented for over 2000 years. There is evidence the Romans used to try treating it in various ways, for example by using water from certain springs which was high in lithium (though the doses were tiny compared to what is used in treatment in the latter half of the twentieth century).
To call it "elated mood" or use other psychiatric descriptions fails to communicate the experience of mania. For want of better language, mania is one of the best natural buzzes.
Mania is a wonderful state in my experience. There are two levels: hypo- and hypermania. Hypermanic episodes are also devastating and can lead to psychiatric hospitalisation. Hypomania is a lower state which can still damage a person's life however they usually remain insightful into the experience and what it means.
Herein lies a useful example about disability, psychopathology and psychological distress.
Mania is not the absence of psychological distress. It can be a state of extreme positive emotion, hence me describing it as a buzz. Mania feels like permanent exhilaration. A person can feel invincible and be great at everything. Ideas come rushing forth into consciousness. It is a wonderful creative state.
A person can have boundless energy and need little sleep or nutrition. The body and mind somehow overcome these basic needs though as time goes on this burden on the organic systems leads to detrioration.
A person can become highly sexed. The sex drive increase is a noted psychopathological facet. What's perhaps less well understood is how mania can make people more attractive. A manic person can be one of those people that pushes out amazing positive energy, thinks quickly and can have excesses of charm. Obviously not everyone experiences it this was but some do and those who do can end up getting luck. Mania also makes people take more risks, another asset or deficit, depending on the person, where it comes to the pathway to bedding someone.
The hypersexuality element can be fun while the mania last but it can also have bad social consequences in cultures where promisciousness is still frowned upon. This element has changed signifcantly since the sexual revolution in the last century but the stigma of slutty men and women still exists.
I describe it like something which some people might want. During the highs the emotional state is amazing. The capability of the individual, as they percieve it, can be bolstered to unrealistic levels. The risk taking can have disasterous consequences as can the problems of inflated ego. Rash decisions combined with arrogance and bravado can create a lot of negativity for the individal. Lack of sleep and other basic human needs can lead to the mind going haywire and the body going beyond its limits. Sensation-seeking risks, including drink and drugs, can cause havoc to a person's life.
For most people who experience mania there's also the depression to deal with. Few people are blessed with sustained mania. The depression...oh god the depression...
Normality feels like depression after a manic period, at least it does for me but perhaps my experiences were worse because I took medication after my first hypermanic episode. When the real lows hit things can be much worse because of the events which took place during manic episodes. Internally a person may feel great during mania but what happens in their external reality can be very destructive.
Jobs can be lost, relationships irreperably damaged, huge debts accrued and other big problems for a person with depression. Mania can wreck a person's life. It can feel great while its happening.
Psychiatrists measure the wreckage of a person's life on social outcome measures (including occupational outcomes) and clinical outcomes are also of relevance. They do it reasonably scientifically though the rates of disability vary between countries.
Mania itself can be a wonderful state for the individual. The experience is at the positive end of the scale of psychological distress and for many I would guess it is the positive in the subjective wellness measure. In fact hypermania is an extreme of this. Hypermania is a state where a person totally loses touch with reality but it feels great.
Sent from my smartphone
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