Mania

Mania is an extreme sense of well-being, energy and optimism. It can be so intense that it affects thinking and judgement. Individuals may believe strange things about themselves, make bad decisions, and behave in embarrassing, harmful and (occasionally) dangerous ways. Like depression, mania makes it difficult or impossible to deal with life in an effective way. A period of mania can affect both relationships and work. When the symptoms of mania are not so extreme, it is called 'hypomania'. Individuals in the midst of a manic episode for the first time may not realize that there is anything wrong, although friends, family and/or colleagues will. the affected individual may even feel offended if someone tries to point this out to them. The sufferer increasingly loses touch with day-to-day issues, including with other people's feelings. Individuals may exhibit some or all of the following symptoms of mania:

Emotional[edit]

• Extremely happy and excited
• Very irritated or abusive towards other people who don't share the sufferer's outlook
• Feeling more important than usual (grandiosity)

Thinking[edit]

• Hearing voices that other people can't hear.

Physical[edit]

• Full of energy
• Sleeplessness

Behavior[edit]

• Making plans that are grandiose and unrealistic
• Very active, moving around very quickly
• Behaving unusually, strangely or bizarrely
• Talking very quickly - other people may find it hard to understand what the individual is talking about
• Making odd decisions on the spur of the moment, sometimes with disastrous consequences
• Recklessly spending money
• Over-familiar or recklessly critical with other people
• Lack of inhibition

Liberalism[edit]

• Typically, liberals exhibit these behaviors.
• They believe they are more important than others
• They are easily irritated
• They make plans that are unrealistically grandiose
• They have problems with sleep patterns
• They blame the problems on others, unlike conservatives, who accept responsibility for themselves.

External links[edit]

• Royal College of Psychiatrists