Bipolar Disorder and Mania

 

In 2007, Eric Hunt kidnapped and attacked Nobel Prize Winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in the San Francisco Argent hotel. Hunt was caught because he bragged about his exploits on an anti-Holocaust website. Hunt apologized for his actions while he was on trial, claiming that he was in a manic state. He had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and wasn’t taking his medications properly, leading him to believe in anti-Semitic conspiracies on line.

 

Although this attack seems like an extreme result of a manic episode, it isn’t as uncommon as you might think.

 

 

Mania is a condition often prescribed to those diagnosed with bipolar disorder 1. A manic state must last at least one week and can go on for several months. Sure, the euphoria and energy might sound like an attractive place to be in mentally, but with mania it is almost non-stop and leads to other symptoms.

 

For example, someone in a manic state will also experience little need for sleep, a need for some serious physical exertion and feelings of hyper-sexuality. Lack of sleep + physical exertion+ sexual need= poor judgment with people experiencing mania. That pent up energy for those who can’t let loose the sex or the exercise can also spell aggression. For those who don’t want the feelings to end, bipolar patients will sometimes turn to amphetamines like cocaine to keep the train rolling. A Dallas Department of Psychiatry study among mood disorder patients who were also diagnosed with substance abuse problems showed that the ones who abused cocaine the most were, in fact, Bipolar 1 patients.  Jean Claude Van Damme, a Martial Arts movie star, was diagnosed with bipolar depression during treatment for a cocaine addiction. 

 

 

Another problem with mania for patients is that they can delve into several projects or become very intense about a select few, to the point where nothing will satisfy them other than completing all of them. One spouse of a bipolar patient told a story about how she and her husband had set out to purchase one property in hopes to rent it out for profit. Her husband became obsessed with the idea and invested in not just one, but five properties that they couldn’t afford. In the end, her husband amounted $100,000 in debt. 

 

 

Perhaps the best description of manic episodes can be from the patients themselves. One manic patient recalled a story in a forum where, during a manic episode, he decided his dorm’s quality of life needed vast improvement. He went on to purchase tickets for a popular major league baseball game for anyone who wanted one. He also went to the school library to check out just about every book he thought the dorm needed. This required a large cart and a request to put them all on hold until he could get help. Whatever books he didn’t find there, he went to a local book store and bought the rest. Unfortunately for him when it came to game time, he couldn’t remember where he put the tickets. The dorm people had him arrested for trying to scam them, even though he found the tickets later. He was put into a temporary psychiatric hold in a padded room. He was released and then escaped back to his dorms to “make things right” again. He was subsequently arrested once more.

 

Another patient discussed other symptoms of mania: the belief that he could do anything and psychosis. In this case, it was time travel. He even had special tools to make it happen: a broken watch, a pair of bracelets, an MP3 player, noise- cancelling headphones, a bell, timer and color-changing clock. He would turn a fan on in the room, set the timer, and undress in the basement. He would draw on himself with a permanent marker and return to the room when the timer would go off, in hopes that time would be frozen from the fan. His other method was to change time via his computer clock, which he believed to control the world’s time. He set it back for one day and ended up forgetting his father’s birthday.

 

 

Much of treatment for mania is a combination of coping methods and mood stabilizers. Coping methods include having a set schedule and sticking to it, doing little to divert from it. This helps keep the patient focused on whatever task it is and to help take care of himself. For example, a patient with the urge to work out all day might limit himself to doing it between 2 and 5pm and remembering to eat at 6 and absolutely going to bed at 9pm. This could be tough at first, but if he sticks to his medications like Lithium, he could develop a rhythm that would help prevent overexertion, lack of nourishment, and insomnia. In turn, those could reduce the irritability and “on the edge” symptoms that often lead to trouble. By getting loved ones involved, they could help keep the patient on track and help create boundaries. This only works if the patient wants it to work, of course.

 

Need Help?

 

If you’ve had these experiences, similar ones, and had not been diagnosed with any other conditions (such as substance abuse), you should contact your local doctor or psychotherapist. If you feel like you or someone you know is in an uncontrollable manic mood now, this website lists the mental health crisis numbers by state.

 

 

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