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We have heard about manic episodes in the context of bipolar disorder. What does it feel like to experience one? Is it any different from a depressive episode? If you believe you may have bipolar disorder, you should be evaluated by a physician or therapist. The presence of mania or hypomania is what essentially characterizes bipolar disorder.
Mania is described as a distinct period of abnormally elevated, expansive, or irritable mood coupled with abnormal and persistently increased activity. It can last at least one week and is present for most of the day, nearly every day, or any duration, if you need to go to the hospital.
What It's Like to Have Manic Episodes?
While the DSM definition is crisp and clear, manic episodes may not exactly look like that.
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Words abnormally and persistently are crucial in this definition. As a result, you experience unusual variations in your energy level, activity level, and mood. That refers to extreme happiness or anger, which is observed by others and appears unnatural.
However, while you're experiencing hypomania or manic episodes, you have the time and energy to do multiple tasks. You might stay up all night or for a significant portion of it to work on these tasks several nights in a row.
The following are symptoms you may experience during manic episodes:
1) Heightened Energy
It would involve more than having the energy to work out for four days in a row before collapsing and losing interest. That's not proof of manic behavior, as you went to the gym four days in a row. Instead, it might resemble working out for four to five hours every day when you're 50.
It might not be unusual if you do that at the age of 20. For mania and hypomania, these changes in activity and mood must endure for at least one week.
2) Inflated Self-Esteem or Grandiosity
Mania is similar to wearing a bullet-proof vest. Manic episodes lower your self-esteem and make you more likely to act arrogantly.
Mania has an aggressive, obstinate, domineering, opinionated, and conceited feeling. You have the impression that everything will work out, as you put it that way. You never consider the possibility that you can be wrong.
3) Decreased Need for Sleep
Going a few days without sleeping at all or sleeping two to three hours every night and still feeling rested the next day are both examples of experiencing manic episodes.
That's different from trying to sleep but struggling to do so, as you're stressed about a deadline you have to meet or are reviewing your to-do list for the next day.
4) Excessive Talking
Some people tend to talk more than others, but manic episodes involve excessive talking.
In reality, some individuals with ADHD may speak quicker or with more vivacity. Speaking under pressure is a symptom of mania, and others usually notice it more than you do.You might find that you just have a lot to say and that the thoughts are flowing. It could appear to the listener like a verbal barrage.
5) Flight of Ideas
It can happen as your manic episode progresses and you're unable to keep up with your racing thoughts. In this instance, you feel it within as though your mind is scattered and you're unable to think.
It may seem like your thoughts are flying around at a million miles per hour; rather than it being a pleasant experience, where your thoughts are just flowing along nicely. It turns into a negative one, where your thoughts are fragmented and scattered.
6) Distractibility
Manic episodes are generally charcaterised by distractibility. Your focus is too readily diverted to insignificant and irrelevant outside factors.
There may be an increase in goal-directed activity, whether it be in social, occupational, academic, or sexual areas, as well as psychomotor agitation, which would be pointless, non-goal-directed activity.
Psychomotor agitation can manifest as pacing, excessive fidgeting when seated, or standing up but not accomplishing anything.
This article is not meant to diagnose you or your loved one with a manic episode. When you experience manic symptoms such as mood swings and an extraordinary amount of energy and activity, problems might arise in your social life, work/school functioning, and home life. If you experience severe hallucinations or delusions or if you need to be kept from hurting yourself or others, you might need to be hospitalized.
Understanding mania, its symptoms, your unique triggers, and effective management techniques for manic episodes are crucial. Mania can be managed with the assistance of your family and friends, medication, talk therapy, and support groups.
Keep in touch with your medical professional, especially while you're experiencing manic episodes. Your doctor will want to see you and could feel the need to alter the dosage or frequency of your drugs.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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