For many of us with Bipolar disorder, we tend to experience symptoms of mania. What exactly is mania, you ask? The dictionary defines mania as,
"mental illness marked by periods of great excitement or euphoria, delusions, and overactivity"
It is widespread for those of us who experience mania to experience a lot of delusional thinking, such as when I believed that it was prophesied for me to harm the president. We also may experience "high-risk behaviors", such as overspending and/or having multiple sex partners. We may even engage in obsessive gambling too. I know that all of this may sound really bad, right? It is for these reasons that one probably would wonder why someone would miss their mania. Well, despite these negative symptoms of mania, there are some positives about mania. You ask me, "Wait, what do you mean by 'positives about mania'?" I know that it sounds hard to comprehend but it is true. There are, in fact, some positive things about mania. It is precisely for this reason that many of us who remain on medication tend to miss our manic symptoms and are tempted to go off of our medication so we can experience mania again. It is a vicious cycle of experiencing mania, then depression, being medicated, going off medication, and then repeating mania all over again. This cycle is actually really common for those of us with Bipolar disorder. I know that I have gone through this cycle many times and so have many other people. In this blog, I shall discuss some reasons why we tend to miss our mania and then I will discuss some reminders that will help you when you are missing your mania. I would like to say that if you are missing your mania, do not feel like you are weird or anything. It is perfectly normal for you to feel like this. Mania is an amazing experience for those of who deal with it. However, it does come with many complications, which I will get to shortly. In my experience, I have found three different reasons why we tend to miss our mania symptoms. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, as there are many other reasons why someone would miss their mania. These are just the main reasons I choose to focus on for the sake of this blog. If you can think of more, please let me know.
Productivity
When people experience mania, they tend to be highly productive. Actually, it is for this reason that so many of us make such great workers when we are manic. I remember in my younger years when I was not medicated, I would require very little sleep to function (sometimes no sleep at all). This enabled me to work a full graveyard shift while also attending college. It was because of my mania that I was able to accomplish more and never feel tired. It was almost like I was on a constant buzz from Monster Energy Drinks, but I never drink those. These days when I am manic, it makes me able to easily write multiple blogs and make multiple YouTube videos in a short period because my mind is flooded with new ideas.
More Creativity
When people experience flights of mania, we tend to be the most creative. This is why some of those artistic people in history have been people with mental illnesses. For more on that topic, please read my blog on Mental Illness & The Artistic Mind. I am not sure why this is, but whenever I am manic, my mind can become highly creative and even artistic. This is why I was able to easily write my Simply book/blog series without even planning them out. The ideas just flowed freely from my mind into my work. Many people with Bipolar disorder can do similar things when they are manic such as writing beautiful poetry, painting beautiful artwork, making amazing music, etc. When we are manic, artistic ability just comes naturally to us.
More Lively
For those of us who experience mania, we tend to become more full of energy, which in turn causes us to feel more alive. I know that when I am experiencing a manic episode, I actually feel exuberant. I feel like I can run a hundred miles without feeling tired and I tend to talk extremely fast because my thinking is hopping from one thought to another. Those of us who experience mania tend to become the life of the party. This is the biggest reason why when we are medicated at first we hate it because stability causes us to feel dead inside.
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why we miss our mania when we are in recovery. Now, the question you are probably wondering is what can we do when we are missing our mania, right? Well, I have found three things that help me when I begin missing my mania and get tempted to stop taking my medication. I will dispense my advice and if you remember these three things, then I am sure that they will help you to realize that being stable is much more important than living with mania.
Remembering What Mania Causes
What I mean by this is that when we remind ourselves of the havoc mania causes in our lives, it should cause us to regret ever going off of our medication. For example, when I remember how I made a YouTube video where I basically threatened the President and the Secret Service paid me a visit, I then remembered that I needed to stay on my medication. I am not saying that we should live in the past, but when we think of the trouble that mania causes, it should cause us to realize how better off we are being stable.
Remembering How Mania Affects Loved Ones
This one should be fairly easy for anyone who cares about how their actions affect their loved ones. I know in my life my mania has affected not only myself, but also my wife, sisters, and close friends. It would be unloving of me to say I do not care enough about them to remain stable. I know all too well how my mania has almost destroyed my relationships completely and I do not want to risk that ever again. Anyone who has any loved ones in their life should seriously consider this before deciding to go off of their medication.
Remembering It Is Because Of Medication That You Are Doing Well
This tip is a good one to remember because so many of us have a tendency to think that once we go a long time being stable we are now "healed" and no longer need medication. Mental illness is not a curable disease like Herpes. People with Bipolar will have it for the rest of their lives or until Jesus returns. If we think we can go off of our medication, then our symptoms will inevitably return and could be worse than before because Bipolar is degenerative. This is why we need to remember that the reason why we are doing so well in our recovery is because of the medication we are currently taking. I know that sometimes we may feel shame for having to depend on medication, but there is really no shame about it. Some people need to depend on insulin for their well-being because they have diabetes. In the same way, we need psychiatric medication because of our broken minds.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I sincerely hope that it helps you when you begin to miss your mania episodes. I understand that mania feels really good because our mood is elevated, but it is not worth the consequences. I hope that next time you begin missing your mania, you will think about this blog. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
"mental illness marked by periods of great excitement or euphoria, delusions, and overactivity"
It is widespread for those of us who experience mania to experience a lot of delusional thinking, such as when I believed that it was prophesied for me to harm the president. We also may experience "high-risk behaviors", such as overspending and/or having multiple sex partners. We may even engage in obsessive gambling too. I know that all of this may sound really bad, right? It is for these reasons that one probably would wonder why someone would miss their mania. Well, despite these negative symptoms of mania, there are some positives about mania. You ask me, "Wait, what do you mean by 'positives about mania'?" I know that it sounds hard to comprehend but it is true. There are, in fact, some positive things about mania. It is precisely for this reason that many of us who remain on medication tend to miss our manic symptoms and are tempted to go off of our medication so we can experience mania again. It is a vicious cycle of experiencing mania, then depression, being medicated, going off medication, and then repeating mania all over again. This cycle is actually really common for those of us with Bipolar disorder. I know that I have gone through this cycle many times and so have many other people. In this blog, I shall discuss some reasons why we tend to miss our mania and then I will discuss some reminders that will help you when you are missing your mania. I would like to say that if you are missing your mania, do not feel like you are weird or anything. It is perfectly normal for you to feel like this. Mania is an amazing experience for those of who deal with it. However, it does come with many complications, which I will get to shortly. In my experience, I have found three different reasons why we tend to miss our mania symptoms. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, as there are many other reasons why someone would miss their mania. These are just the main reasons I choose to focus on for the sake of this blog. If you can think of more, please let me know.
Productivity
When people experience mania, they tend to be highly productive. Actually, it is for this reason that so many of us make such great workers when we are manic. I remember in my younger years when I was not medicated, I would require very little sleep to function (sometimes no sleep at all). This enabled me to work a full graveyard shift while also attending college. It was because of my mania that I was able to accomplish more and never feel tired. It was almost like I was on a constant buzz from Monster Energy Drinks, but I never drink those. These days when I am manic, it makes me able to easily write multiple blogs and make multiple YouTube videos in a short period because my mind is flooded with new ideas.
More Creativity
When people experience flights of mania, we tend to be the most creative. This is why some of those artistic people in history have been people with mental illnesses. For more on that topic, please read my blog on Mental Illness & The Artistic Mind. I am not sure why this is, but whenever I am manic, my mind can become highly creative and even artistic. This is why I was able to easily write my Simply book/blog series without even planning them out. The ideas just flowed freely from my mind into my work. Many people with Bipolar disorder can do similar things when they are manic such as writing beautiful poetry, painting beautiful artwork, making amazing music, etc. When we are manic, artistic ability just comes naturally to us.
More Lively
For those of us who experience mania, we tend to become more full of energy, which in turn causes us to feel more alive. I know that when I am experiencing a manic episode, I actually feel exuberant. I feel like I can run a hundred miles without feeling tired and I tend to talk extremely fast because my thinking is hopping from one thought to another. Those of us who experience mania tend to become the life of the party. This is the biggest reason why when we are medicated at first we hate it because stability causes us to feel dead inside.
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why we miss our mania when we are in recovery. Now, the question you are probably wondering is what can we do when we are missing our mania, right? Well, I have found three things that help me when I begin missing my mania and get tempted to stop taking my medication. I will dispense my advice and if you remember these three things, then I am sure that they will help you to realize that being stable is much more important than living with mania.
Remembering What Mania Causes
What I mean by this is that when we remind ourselves of the havoc mania causes in our lives, it should cause us to regret ever going off of our medication. For example, when I remember how I made a YouTube video where I basically threatened the President and the Secret Service paid me a visit, I then remembered that I needed to stay on my medication. I am not saying that we should live in the past, but when we think of the trouble that mania causes, it should cause us to realize how better off we are being stable.
Remembering How Mania Affects Loved Ones
This one should be fairly easy for anyone who cares about how their actions affect their loved ones. I know in my life my mania has affected not only myself, but also my wife, sisters, and close friends. It would be unloving of me to say I do not care enough about them to remain stable. I know all too well how my mania has almost destroyed my relationships completely and I do not want to risk that ever again. Anyone who has any loved ones in their life should seriously consider this before deciding to go off of their medication.
Remembering It Is Because Of Medication That You Are Doing Well
This tip is a good one to remember because so many of us have a tendency to think that once we go a long time being stable we are now "healed" and no longer need medication. Mental illness is not a curable disease like Herpes. People with Bipolar will have it for the rest of their lives or until Jesus returns. If we think we can go off of our medication, then our symptoms will inevitably return and could be worse than before because Bipolar is degenerative. This is why we need to remember that the reason why we are doing so well in our recovery is because of the medication we are currently taking. I know that sometimes we may feel shame for having to depend on medication, but there is really no shame about it. Some people need to depend on insulin for their well-being because they have diabetes. In the same way, we need psychiatric medication because of our broken minds.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I sincerely hope that it helps you when you begin to miss your mania episodes. I understand that mania feels really good because our mood is elevated, but it is not worth the consequences. I hope that next time you begin missing your mania, you will think about this blog. May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
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