Mania is part of Bipolar Disorder
(Manic Depressive Psychosis in the olden days).
It is an episodic condition characterized by excessive
happiness/irritability and increased energy/activities. In addition, there could also be agitation,
distractibility, racing thoughts, excessive speech, reduced sleep, grandiose
ideas, and risk-taking behaviour such as rash driving, overspending or sexually
promiscuous behaviour. It can alternate
with depressive periods, although this is not always necessary; a single episode
of Mania still qualifies as Bipolar Disorder.
Persons undergoing a manic
episode may be able to describe the euphoric feeling of ‘feeling on top of the
world’, with no need to rest or sleep.
They feel highly energetic, and often this energy is directed towards
purposeless activities that can rile up people they live with. They can sing, dance, make jokes, and quote
poems with rhyming words, or on the other hand, cry for no reason, and become
very angry over trivial issues, and even assault others. In severe cases, psychotic features such as
grandiose delusions may set in, which results in the person believing that
he/she is rich beyond means, or has some special abilities, or that they are
very important individuals, such as presidents or celebrities.
With all this going on, the
feature that makes Mania the most challenging condition to manage is that the
person is unaware that he/she is mentally ill and needs treatment. But when treatment is given, the
symptoms become more manageable, and with the recovery of insight, preventive
treatment can be continued on a long-term basis.
Featuring: Aadya Pawar
Writing/Direction/Editing: Deepak Pawar
In this short educative video on
Mania, I have attempted to show some of the above features as accurately as
possible. I have experimented with
images/sounds that best depict the misplaced joyousness and inner turmoil of
the person experiencing Mania. The speed
is deliberately enhanced and the music is set at a frenetic pace to convey the
feelings of restless energy in the person.
The expressions/emotions displayed by the actress are similar to those
that I have observed in patients with Mania over the years.
If you feel dizzy, irritable,
excited or exhausted while watching this video, that’s just down to the
condition itself; the ideas is to give you a feel of mental state of the person
experiencing a manic episode.
As with other short films on
Depression and Anxiety, I invite your constructive comments/suggestions and ratings/reviews at Bright on IMDb.
Please also see my patient education video on Bipolar Disorder.
For a more professional information
on Mania and Bipolar Disorder (under Mood Disorders), please go through the lectures.