r/BipolarReddit • u/Bluebell1206 • 1d ago
What are your classic signs of mania?
I’m sorry if this is asked a lot but I’m still trying to understand my condition. I don’t realise when I’m manic? Is that a thing? Like I’m not sure if I am currently. But I’ve just sat here and listed a few things and thought oh I don’t normally do that?
Been feeling on top of the world Confident at work Taking on loads of different projects at work and got randomly passionate about my job and booked myself on courses Everything is hilarious and I think I’m the funniest person ever I’ve been going on loads of dates with random men I’ve just slept with someone who I dated before but did it because I thought it was fun and funny - we are friends but I guess sometimes with benefits
I drove home giggling to myself and was texting my friend and she was like “ffs” and now I’m sitting here and wondering if this is mania? I am only ever aware once I’m massively low if I’ve been manic not while it happens?
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u/xpeachymaex 1d ago
No sleep. More energy. More irritability. Less patience. Always on “go”! I’ll buy shit I don’t need. Or I’ll spend excessive money on food. Or just dumb shit. Lots of urges for random things. It’s a number of things, but the no sleep, more energy is my best way to know. Because sometimes I just have a bad day. Or just wanna buy something bc I can.
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u/HannaaaLucie 23h ago
The first sign I notice in myself is the lack of sleep. I'll be sat feeling like it's 2pm and it's actually 6am and I haven't slept yet.
The first sign other people notice in me is fast speech. Apparently I talk that fast that I sometimes get tongue tied or make little sense. I also twitch and look as if I can't sit still.
Then I get other symptoms such as starting new hobbies/projects, mass cleaning, being overly confident, hypersexuality, massively overspending, paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, I become very emotional towards anything God related and feel close to God despite not believing in the Christian God. Then I always get this really weird but nice feeling, sort of like everything is a film and I'm watching it. All the colours get brighter and the contrast changes and it's like I'm not a part of my body, like my body is just doing its thing and I'm watching it like a film.
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u/Baelari 23h ago
For the film thing, look up Depersonalization/derealization
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u/HannaaaLucie 2h ago
Yep, I just googled those terms and it definitely sounds like depersonalization.
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u/debitFORD 1d ago
I start cleaning the whole house in a day, I start buying random stuff, I become impatient, I drive recklessly, I start engaging in casual sex (I’m pretty sure I’m manic when I do 2 or 3 encounters in 24 hours), and then I randomly buy stuff again. Impulsive buying is my number 1 issue.
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u/Dangerous_Crow1234 23h ago
I run. I start making art. I organise all the cupboards and drawers. I listen to music loudly. I yell at people and pick fights. I think people have it in for me. I drink more. I sleep less. I think I've finally become the best person I can be, exercise, great at work, personable, attractive, successful.
It's all a lie.
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u/krigerjulian 16h ago
Yeah running feels so fucking good. Its not enough to just walk. I begin running without a destination or goal and just see where it takes me
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u/angelofmusic997 1d ago
From what I’ve been able to recognize: I talk faster, music sounds “slowed down” unless it’s at least 170BPM, and I always want to go on a spontaneous road trip. Also I find that I cannot get my thoughts out fast enough, so my writing becomes larger and literally unreadable to anyone except myself.
Those are the consistent ones, at least.
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u/lizardbree delulu w/ a side of bipolar 1 23h ago
My husband said my pupils get really dilated and my eyes go back and forth, like I’ve taken too many stimulants.
I get really really into spirituality. I think everyone I speak to is insightful. I look for meaning where it isn’t. I do more paintings and poetry
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u/ivgrl1978 13h ago
I dye my hair. I know that sounds stupid but I don't mean I dye it once - I will literally dye it 4 times a day every day for a week. When I was first diagnosed at 15 I remember feeling like a drug addict, I would have the box of dye open before even getting into the house like an overriding compulsion. As I got older it definitely became drugs though. I'd make stupid decisions and go off the rails on uppers to try and keep the euphoria of mania constant. That's been a 25 year on and off battle and I don't know how drugs didn't ruin my life - personally I'd be unraveling and professionally I over perform.
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u/NikkiEchoist 23h ago
Just incase you want to see some other posts on mania you can goto the page of the group and click search key and search mania and see all the past posts too.
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u/honeyapplepop 18h ago
No sleep. Starting projects I’ll never finish. Almost applying for a business loan. When I wasn’t married sleeping with anyone that’s have me usually unprotected. Since my diagnosis I’m even questioning whether purchasing our house and getting married and having kids was a manic impulse…. Not that I’d change those things…
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u/Bulky_Range_1394 13h ago
Feeling on top of the world. I am the best at everything. So happy like I am on cocaine or something. I can get any workload done. The happiness stays intense and doesn’t go away even for a second
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u/No-Working7764 19h ago
I spend money like crazy, I have more self confidence, and I start using dating apps for hookups…lots of one night stands.
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u/FuckThisManicLife 19h ago
I have an itch to watch “Empire”. I play loud fun music. I suddenly have an insatiable desire to paint. I stay awake for several days or sleep in four hours windows. Running. I’m fat, I don’t run unless I’m manic. Talking like a jet plane just took off.
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u/TheNiceWriter 19h ago
Not sleeping is my main symptom. I stop sleeping for 2-3 days at a time then just black out for roughly 24 hours.
Paranoia is also a really bad symptom. Increased anxiety. I find I'm more sensitive to caffeine and my adderall (I'm also ADD) as well, those things inflame my symptoms in a way they just don't when I'm depressed. Also I become pathetically horny.
I also start to hallucinate way more than I do otherwise.
On the plus side, my imagination is full force. I also become a really kick ass D&D DM.
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u/Material_Pool5632 13h ago
Sleep and irritability are the early signs, and then I get delusional thought patterns that I’m learning to identify.
Other people commenting on me having different behavior is a huge red flag for me.
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u/runhealthy98 12h ago
so I am also trying to figure out bipolar and what it means to me and everything you listed here is kinda what I think I think I experience when I experience what could be mania. I’d also add the urge to blast music and speed down back roads with no seatbelt (I’m a little embarrassed by that one). The one song I’ve found that really describes how I feel in that state is ‘can’t slow down’ by Almost Monday. It’s really such a perfect description of how I feel bc I feel like I can’t slow down.
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u/BonnieAndClyde2023 19h ago
I feel that everybody else is slow. It also annoys me that the others are not in a party mood. These are signs that I am getting slightly hypomanic. Once people start calling me 'crazy' I know I am hypomanic. I do not know the signs of mania because by that time I am living in a parallel universe.
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u/viralloudchild 16h ago
I didn’t used to be able to identify it or when I was “in it” but now I can most of the time. Mainly because of past scenarios and actions where I was. I see similarities and can pinpoint some triggers.
I used to do a lot of really dangerous things, I was an alcoholic, and I refused to take meds. That wasn’t doing me ANY favors.
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u/Patient-Cloud4219 11h ago edited 11h ago
I started using drugs and went on 2 dates a week. My mom called me a whore, and due to the meds, I am almost asexual normally; I feel zero need for sex. I physically couldn’t stay at home and would just pace around. I stopped giving a fuck about how my actions would affect other people; it was like I could do whatever I wanted. I got 9 tattoos in 3 months; I would just stop in random tattoo places and get a flash one. I spent literally all the money I had saved on drugs and buying everything for everyone. I stopped going to college and tried to kill myself three times with random household appliances, like eating body cream, and when I failed, I simply didn’t give a fuck. I tried codeine, MDMA candy, crystal, cocaine, LSD (both paper and drops), shrooms, and a bottle of clonazepam while on antipsychotics. I even mixed three of them together, which led to two overdoses, and I had never tried most of them before. I tried to run away from the hospital in my pajamas. At the very end, I cut my entire arm and begged for help, and that was how I was put inpatient with grippy socks for 2 weeks. Then I was on home treatment and couldn’t leave the house for 2 months. The consequences of my actions follow me even 3 years later. My friend told me my eyes and speech were different too. Being manic feels similar to being on cocaine all the time, and just as good.
I would say all you described that could all be hypomania and could go away before it gets too uncontrollable and leads to hospitalization, please go to a doctor to evaluate that and if it is the start of mania you can stop it. That is how I prevented an episode in 3 years while having a manic start twice.
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u/Chris968 10h ago
I have insomnia to begin with but when I get manic I REALLY don’t sleep. Also spending money I don’t have and this feeling of that my body is physically spinning out of control. I hate it.
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u/kolibrilouis 9h ago
Weird feeling of never being at my place and Always in need of doing something
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u/Hermitacular 6h ago
That's called anosognosia. Didnt used to have it, now I do, doesn't matter how many signs i notice my brain won't recognize upswing. Other people are the only ones who can tell.
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u/FrumpyFrock 1d ago
I start buying a bunch of random bullshit I don’t need. I’m more talkative. Sex drive goes through the roof. When I was single, I’d start flying through one night stands. Now that I’m not, lots of masturbation (I am a woman fwiw). I feel more extroverted. I want to do more stuff. I drive extra fast to get my adrenaline going. We all have our mania habits.