Mania

Mania can be described as a state of abnormally elevated energy levels and general arousal. The typical symptoms of mania are the following: heightened mood (either euphoric or irritable), thought acceleration, a flooding of ideas, extreme talkativeness, increased energy, a decreased need for sleep, and hyperactivity. This state of mind can vary wildly in its intensity, from mild mania (hypomania) to full-on manic psychosis^[1]. The accompanying symptoms are most obvious during states of fully developed delirious mania in which the person exhibits increasingly severe manic tendencies that become more and more obscured by other signs and symptoms, such as delusions, psychosis, incoherence, catatonia and extreme disorderly behavior.

Within the context of clinical psychology, standardized tools such as Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale^[2] and Young Mania Rating Scale^[3] can be used to measure severity of manic episodes. It is worth noting that since mania and hypomania is often associated with creativity and artistic talent, it is not always the case that a clearly manic person needs or wants medical help; such persons often either retain sufficient self-control to function normally or are simply unaware that they are severely manic enough to be committed to a psychiatric ward or to commit themselves.

Although mania is often stereotyped as a “mirror image” of depression, the heightened mood can be either euphoric or irritable. As irritable mania worsens, the irritability often becomes more pronounced and may eventually result in violent behaviour.

Mania is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as ego inflation and stimulation. It commonly occurs under the influence of heavy doses of stimulant (e.g. methamphetamine, cocaine, MDPV, a-PVP) or dissociative (e.g. PCP, dextromethorphan) compounds.