A Friend’s View of Bipolar Disorder

I once asked a friend of mine what he thought about mania and his friends with bipolar disorder. It’s always interesting to ask the people in your life how they perceive bipolar  moodswings. It may be very different than you expect. Here is his answer.

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 I’ve always thought of mania as a “Euphoric” high, the feeling that we
 all have at times that is exacerbated with someone with bipolar
 disorder.  You feel like you can do no wrong, you feel great, you can’t
 believe you’ve ever been depressed.  You can spend money, make big decisions,
 all with this state of mind.  I compare it to making decisions with a
 depressed mind, you don’t want to do that either.  It’s like two ends
 of a spectrum.  It may feel great to be on a manic high, but it seems
 uncontrollable, decisions are made that are easily regrettable in a short
 time.  Like a control chart people have highs and lows, the best time
 to use your mind for rational thought is in the middle, or ‘medium
 high’. You are thinking and listening less when both manic or depressed as
 well.  For some people like my girlfriend who’s a natural speaker, talking
 comes so easy that it’s more difficult to recognize when she’s on a manic
 high.  The best way I could see that she was  manic was her inability to
 listen. 

“Find me some water and I will walk on it” – ancient Chinese proverb.

When I first met my girlfriend, she was manic.  I didn’t recognize it
 of course but I thought I knew enough about bipolar disorder to where I
 thought I could recognize it and deal with it.  When in fact I didn’t
 even recognize her symptoms until much later.  There is no one perfect
 way to deal with it, other than to remind yourself and your friends to
 make decisions with the right frame of mind, and learn what is that
 right frame of mind.  Most people with depression and bipolar can’t even
 see when they are out of there mental ‘sweet spot’.  That’s where
 friends and family come into play to help  those with bipolar disorder
 recognize whether they’re  in a depressed mind, or a manic mind. Then we can help.

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Interesting.