I think people tend to have the wrong idea about a manic episode with bipolar disorder. People believe what they believe and for this it tends to be they think we are just really happy and feel amazing, high almost. Yeah, this is wrong actually. I am not saying we aren’t happy in a manic episode because we certainly can feel on top of the world and self-important. However, it doesn’t stop there guys we certainly wish it would though.
With manic episodes comes impulsivity, quick to be frustrated or mad, lots of energy, doing things that we wouldn’t normally do, things that are just plain ridiculous, things that could be harmful or dangerous. That comes with the impulsiveness I suppose it was implied. We don’t usually know when we are having a mania, and after it’s over we’re basically appalled at things we have done or thought. For some people manias and even depressive episodes bring in hallucinations.
And usually what follows a mania is the dreaded depressive state. For those with bipolar type 1 the mood changes are less frequent and last longer, however, like bipolar type 2, depressive episodes are more frequent than a mania. And for bipolar type 2 the mood swings are more frequent and don’t last as long. In the depressive state sadness is just not even close to the right word for how intense and awful this is. You can’t concentrate, you have no energy, you lose your self-confidence, you feel intensely guilty and worthless, you lose interest in your activities. You lose energy to play with your children, to keep yourself clean, to practice any self-care at all. And if you manage to do something for yourself you feel guilty again.
The idea here is to show you that those of us with bi-polar do not actually have it easier during a mania. It sounds like fun to people who don’t understand it or know what it actually is, but it truly isn’t fun to be on a self-important high that makes you irritable, sleepless, and impulsive. These things actually feed into the depressive episodes as we see what we did during the manias. It isn’t fun to lose sleep and trigger a worse mania or depression. It isn’t fun to feel like you are invincible because you do things you’d never do normally. Those things can make very little sense to anyone, for example spending a large amount of money on something you don’t actually need, money you don’t really have and then your family suffers financially. Let’s face it, being financially stable in today’s world is so important as the economy changes.
There are warning signs for these manias however, and sometimes you can get out of them before something disastrous happens.
First some of the signs of mania:
· Talking and thinking faster than normal
· High energy levels
· Euphoria, feelings of self-importance
· Sleeping very little
· Having big plans that feel like they need to be done now
· Spending large amounts of money on items that aren’t really necessary
· Hallucinations, psychosis
· Impulsive and risky behavior
· Easily irritable/agitated
· Restless
· Overconfidence
· Easily distracted
· Not eating as much
· Feeling like you are full of great new plans
Not all of these symptoms will always be present, but it is a basic idea of what to look for. However, there are things that can be done to help this besides medication. Though, medication is a normal go to for most.
Things that can help:
· Learn the warning signs (which are listed above)
· Keep track of your mood at the same time each day (download and print my free mental health journal and watch your mood line for each week)
· Avoid mania triggers!
o Caffeine (I still drink caffeine, but I have cut down quite a bit!)
o Alcohol
o Stress (you can’t always avoid life stress, but you can control your support system and reach out to them.)
o Drug abuse
· Exercise regularly (this can be such a hard one to accomplish, I started doing HIIT workouts which only requires 45 minutes a week)
· Consistent sleep schedule! (One of the biggest triggers for bipolar disorder is sleep or lack of sleep setting off a whole range of instability)
o To help with this go to bed at the same time every night
o Avoid staying up late
o Get up at the same time each day
· Have a plan with your support system so that when you are manic you can identify it and reach out to them.
I really hope this helps you with a mania, sometimes mania’s and depressive episodes have some of the same symptoms so next week I will do a post for the depressive episodes and what you can do to help yourself or a loved one.
All the best,
~TKNott~
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