Ask Julie Fast: Come on! Can you really tell you are manic by looking in your eyes?

A friend recently wrote me and asked if my mania in the eyes hypothesis was about the size of the pupil. Here is my reply.

Some background: If you are not familiar with my work, I wrote an article based off of personal and professional experience that hypothesizes we can see signs of mania in the eyes.In my opinion, this could revolutionize how we think about bipolar disorder. If mania is clearly seen in the eyes, it means this is a physical illness. If we can recognize mania in the eyes, it means we can override a manic brain that is telling us we are just fine. I’m currently part of a Southern Methodist University study to test my ideas. Here is link to the webpage if you would like to read more. My Psychology Today blog: Three Clues to Recognize Bipolar Mania in the Eyes explains my ideas in full.

Julie, are you saying that we need to look for changes in the pupil to see if we are manic?

MY ANSWER: I am not only talking about pupils here. Instead, I look at the entire eye including the skin around the eye in my hypothesis. The pupil is only one aspect.

Here are examples of what I am talking about.

Depressed

I always notice a dullness- whether there is flash or not. Also, my lid cover the top of my iris.

Stable

Lots of wrings around the eye and pretty closed lids when I smile.

Dysphoric manic

I have a super piercing gaze. No wrinkles under eye. This is where people report the most change in the pupil.

Euphoric manic

When I have euphoric mania- my eyes leap off the photo. No matter if there is flash or not. The whites of my eyes are very white and the color of my eyes is more complicated. I have no wrinkles around the eye and my lid is higher on the iris.

Another common feature is a liquid that covers the eyes when I am manic. It shimmers. I think that one reason we meet sexual partners SO easily when manic is that our eyes light up a room!