When you are in the manic stage you feel very high, enthusiastic, unable to slow down, and very impulsive. You can have bad judgment and do things that you would never ordinarily do. This can cause severe problems with shame and embarrassment. You become very irritated if anyone suggests you calm down and slow up. You can feel nothing is impossible, have grand ideas, and think you have no limits. Then you enter a depressed period
Symptoms of Manic Depressive Illness:
Not everyone who is depressed or manic has every symptom described. Some have few symptoms, some many more that aren’t even listed. How severe the symptoms are varies from person to person and also varies as to the person’s age.
Manic State is described as a person having:
- Abnormal or excessive enthusiasm unusual irritability
- Less need for sleep
- Unbelievable ideas
- Increased and fast talking
- Racing thoughts
- Increased sexual desire
- Acting out sexually
- Increased, amazing energy
- Bad judgment
- Socially unacceptable behavior
- Impulsive acts, considering no consequences
The Depressed state involves a person having:
- Constant sadness
- Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
- Loss of interest in formerly pleasurable activities
- Decreased interest in sex and difficulty with performance
- Decreased energy, fatigue, being “slowed down”
- Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
- Insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
- Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
- Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts
- Restlessness, irritability
- Persistent physical symptoms that don’t have a cause.
Here’s Mickey’s story:
She’s 46 and works in the personnel department of a mid
sized company. Everyone likes Mickey and they call her
‘magic Mickey’ w’en she organizes all the flights and
tickets and hotels for conventions. She laughs loud, dyes
her hair a bright red, and has so much energy that she
makes people tired just watching her. On her job
everyone appreciates her ‘give more than 100%’ job
attitude. Suddenly people at work start to notice Mickey is
not just talkative, she can’t stop talking. She tells her co
workers that she thinks she could be president of the
company and do a better job. She also is over the top in
her flirty behavior with men in the office, telling them they
don’t know what they are missing, not having her
sexually. Finally her boss calls her aside and tells her he
thinks something is wrong and she needs to see a
doctor. She explodes and slams out of the office,
threatening to sue for discrimination. Her husband sees
her come home out of control and asks her if she is taking
her medications. She has stopped and refuses to take
them. Her husband calls their doctor and he tells him to
take her to the emergency ward. She has to be
hospitalized for a week to get stabilized, be put back on
medicine, and get back on an even keel. She feels
humiliated that people at the office saw her that way. She
wonders if she can go back to work there.
Jake has an equally bad story
He is 67 and sold his tool and die company for a nice
profit. He and his wife are set financially and they live in a
nice waterfront home in Florida. Jake loves to entertain
and does much of the cooking himself. There is nothing
he likes more than to have a large group of people to the
house for a party. His wife knows that there is another
side of Jake that most people never see. He can quickly
become depressed and when he is, he turns mean and
nasty. He has hit his wife many times throughout the
marriage when he is going into a depressive state. She
reminds him to take his medication because she knows it
will keep him more even, less explosive. They throw a
large party for the neighbors and Jake is doing his usual
grilling while telling stories to everybody in the vicinity. He
starts to get irritated when a new neighbor starts to brag
about his new home, how much it cost, how much more
he is going to spend. Jake starts to talk over this man
but the man has had a few drinks and just keeps going.
Jake’s wife doesn’t like what she sees on Jake’s face but
there is nothing she can do. Suddenly Jake flips a piece
of meat off the grill onto the offending neighbor. The two
men actually start to fight and have to be pulled apart.
Jake cannot calm down and is screaming and threatening
to kill the man. Someone calls the police. Jake pushes
an officer and is handcuffed and taken to jail. Suddenly
people are looking at him like a wild man who is losing his
mind.
If you or someone you care about is suffering from manic depressive type symptoms, you need to get help. This is one type of depression which really is controlled by medication. If you get on the right meds with small side effects you can tolerate, you will have a wonderful life with no extremes.
Remember this. Depression is treatable. Instead of worrying about whether you are depressed, do something to overcome depression. Worry is constructive only if you push yourself to change things for the better. Only one in three people who are seriously depressed get help. Make sure you are in the minority group with this one.
Bipolar or Manic Depression
When you are in the manic stage you feel very high, enthusiastic, unable to slow down, and very impulsive. You can have bad judgment and do things that you would never ordinarily do. This can cause severe problems with shame and embarrassment. You become very irritated if anyone suggests you calm down and slow up. You can feel nothing is impossible, have grand ideas, and think you have no limits. Then you enter a depressed period
Symptoms of Manic Depressive Illness:
Not everyone who is depressed or manic has every symptom described. Some have few symptoms, some many more that aren’t even listed. How severe the symptoms are varies from person to person and also varies as to the person’s age.
Manic State is described as a person having:
- Abnormal or excessive enthusiasm unusual irritability
- Less need for sleep
- Unbelievable ideas
- Increased and fast talking
- Racing thoughts
- Increased sexual desire
- Acting out sexually
- Increased, amazing energy
- Bad judgment
- Socially unacceptable behavior
- Impulsive acts, considering no consequences
The Depressed state involves a person having:
- Constant sadness
- Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
- Loss of interest in formerly pleasurable activities
- Decreased interest in sex and difficulty with performance
- Decreased energy, fatigue, being “slowed down”
- Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
- Insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
- Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
- Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts
- Restlessness, irritability
- Persistent physical symptoms that don’t have a cause.
Here’s Mickey’s story:
Jake has an equally bad story
If you or someone you care about is suffering from manic depressive type symptoms, you need to get help. This is one type of depression which really is controlled by medication. If you get on the right meds with small side effects you can tolerate, you will have a wonderful life with no extremes.
Remember this. Depression is treatable. Instead of worrying about whether you are depressed, do something to overcome depression. Worry is constructive only if you push yourself to change things for the better. Only one in three people who are seriously depressed get help. Make sure you are in the minority group with this one.