Bipolar Mania Research Note
By Reader's Digest Editors
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Caught up in the euphoria of bipolar mania can feel exhilarating—at least at first. Doubts and fears fade away. Energy soars. Ideas bubble in your brain and you’re the life of the party. You may talk fast, need little sleep and feel extremely optimistic. But mania is also dangerous—leading to reckless driving, alcohol and drug abuse, unsafe sex, bad decisions and even trips to the emergency room. Even if you have a milder form called hypomania, you may make choices that threaten your job or important relationships in your life. And if you’re having a mixed phase, mania and depression can team up to leave you energetic and reckless yet severely depressed.
Fast Facts:- Some artists with bipolar disorder believe that the manic phase of this brain disease fuels their most creative work.
- Can you predict oncoming mania? In one study, it was preceded by insomnia, trouble concentrating, and feeling stressed-out.
- Some doctors prescribe small doses of prescription sleep drugs when insomnia begins, to help ward off the swing to bipolar’s manic phase.
- A mix of medications—lithium plus antiseizure drugs, antipsychotics, calcium channel blockers—can level manic highs and depressed lows in bipolar disorder.
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