Mania.

Have you had it? I never did. I do understand from others, though, that it can sometimes seem like a pretty cool thing. Like you’re on top of the world. Except being manic, in the end, is not a good thing.

Here’s how author and bipolar disorder sufferer Kay Redfield Jamison explains it [note: in this reference when she refers to “high” she means the high of mania, not drugs]:

“When you’re high it’s tremendous. The ideas and feelings are fast and frequent like shooting stars, and you follow them until you find better and brighter ones. Shyness goes, the right words and gestures are suddenly there, the power to captivate others a felt certainty. There are interests found in uninteresting people. Sensuality is pervasive and the desire to seduce and be seduced irresistible. Feelings of ease, intensity, power, well-being, financial omnipotence, and euphoria pervade one’s marrow. But, somewhere, this changes. The fast ideas are far too fast, and there are far too many; overwhelming confusion replaces clarity.”

Have you been through mania? Did you avoid being treated because you liked the energy or feelings it gave you? How did mania impact your experience of pregnancy or the postpartum period? Let us know.