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Manic depression takes sufferers from energy like static electricity to absolute zero
By Emily Parkinson
* * * The energy that surrounds Jared is like static electricity. It reaches out and grabs the person next to him, generously spreading the power of life. If a graph were drawn depicting the ups and downs of the first 25 years of his life, it would be steady, rolling along the top of the page, never breaking the pattern. However, in the last year, his 26th, that line has dropped to extreme lows and back up again, sometimes so rapidly that it may resemble a heart monitor in steady motion. This extreme energy has enabled him to complete a dual major in three years, serve a two-year religious mission and complete law school, all by age 26. For a person with manic depression, it is not uncommon to excel in activities. Jared was diagnosed with manic depression after a severe life change shifted the incredible high of the manic phase to the severe low in the depression phase, causing him to seek medical assistance. "Mania" describes periods of abnormal elation and increased activity, while "depression" describes an abnormal degree of sadness and melancholy. The same person may have periods of mania and depression. According to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the most common manic depression symptoms are change in sleep pattern, level of daily activity, appetite, mood, self-esteem, thought, speech, sex drive and interpersonal relations. In periods of excitement an exaggerated sense of well being or irritability may be experienced. The rate of thinking is markedly increased. Intellectual activity takes place with lightning speed, sometimes confusing others with the rapid flight of ideas. During a period of depression, there may be persistent feelings of sadness and emptiness, teafulness for no apparent reason, or irritability and hostility toward others. The manic phase is what can make a person accomplish extraordinary tasks. The manic phase has been referred to as "manic genius," implying that often a person with the illness is also brilliant. Research shows that it is possible that Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill and Michelangelo may have had the illness. for Jared, much of his life has been spent in the manic phase. The drastic depressive episode followed by extreme ups and downs led to the possible diagnosis of manic depression. After several medical examinations and therapy sessions, doctors decided that he had the illness. It is not uncommon for people to not realize they are manic-depressive until they reach their 30s. When asked what it is like to battle the severe ups and downs that may occur one day, Jared replied, "I wake up first thing in the morning, and just start going. I go and go so that I can't slow down long enough for the depression to grab me. The depression is what I find so hard to break myself out of. If I can manage to stay busy and keep my mind full of ideas, then I can't slow down long enough to feel the darkness of depression." According to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, mental illness results from a set of phyiscal/chemical disorders in the brain that causes a person to experience abnormal and undesirable behavior in the complex phenomenon of the mind. Although nearly everyone experiences periods of sadness as well as periods of well being, people with manic depression experience these emotions to an extreme degree. "In a manic phase, thoughts rapidly move through my mind. Sometimes I try to write things down in order to remember them later. In a depressive phase, my mind hardly thinks at all. It is sometimes difficult to get out of bed to face the day," Jared said. "It's crazy the way it controls your mind." Typically, episodes of illness are time-limited. They come and go, last from several days to several months, and are followed by relatively normal periods of mood behavior. Manic and depressive episodes are different for every person, and there are differences in one person from one episode to the next. "Some episodes are much more severe than others," Jared said. "It is not something that a person can really control. At times, I may be able to prevent depression by not thinking about whatever it is that is making me depressed, but sometimes in doing that, it can turn into a manic episode." A manic episode can create a feeling of invincibility. "When I am in a severe manic episode, I drive recklessly, I think," Jared said. "It creates anxiety, making me restless, and anxious, and it's really unnerving." Mood has a strong influence on what one thinks from moment to moment. During periods of depression, one often dwells on memories of losses or failures. "It is hard for someone who doesn't have the illness to understand why they are letting their mind run away with them," Rosemary, Jared's mother, said. "Manic depression scares me, because I don't understand it. I don't know how they feel, exactly. I can get blue, but I can get myself out of it. It is hard for me to imagine such a state." Since these episodes may last several months or longer, one's morale or self-esteem may become seriously impaired. Prolonged periods of depression can lead to a death wish or thoughts of suicide. "I'm hesitant to give advice, because it's usually wrong," Rosemary said. "As a rational person, I don't know that it applies. I can't really reason with him, either; he doesn't think like I do." According to Dimitri Mihalas, author of A Primer on Depression and Bipolar Disorder, many individuals who have experienced the "highs" of manic-depressive illness describe feeling better than at any other time of their lives. They cannot understand why anyone who would call their experience abnormal, part of an illness. They feel excited, have surges of energy, and describe feeling more creative, active, able to accomplish things they never thought possible. Sleep seems unnecessary. Life plans and decisions are often out of proportion with the individual's realistic abilities and resources. Thus, the "high" periods of mania can leave a false sense of one's abilities that may be difficult to give up. Decisions made during these periods are typically impulsive and reckless. Spending sprees and other indiscretions, such as alcohol abuse, are common. These periods of feeling great exaltation, self-importance and power can cause confusion and loss of contact with reality -- often more obvious to others than to the person experiencing this elated mood. Without treatment, the frequency of illness, as well as the severity of symptoms, tends to increase over the years. Less often, a person may have only rare episodes of illness. According to Mihalas, more than 75 percent of individuals with the illness respond well to medical treatment; nearly all patients respond at least partly. Most individuals who seek treatment and follow the recommendations of their doctors can lead productive, useful and reasonably stable and satisfying lives. Without proper medical treatment, many such individuals suffer repeated periods of illness, hospitalization and loss of productive living. "Mood disorders are medical illnesses that produce emotional symptoms," Mihalas said. "A common-sense treatment plan involves treating the medical symptoms as well as learning how to recognize one's own pattern of illness and developing ways of coping with them." Jared said: "The treatments that I tried, do not seem to work for me. Most of them make me tired, or numb to any emotion at all. I am trying to treat myself through counseling, rather than medication." Treatment is directed at lessening the duration and intensity of the episodes and preventing recurrences. It is helpful to have accurate records of the intensity and duration of past episodes to provide comparisons for current treatment efforts and to determine whether there is a regular, seasonal disadvantage. "Finding the right medication might take a lot of trial and error," Jared said. "I went through a tough time, experimenting with different types. I didn't really find one that suited me." Individuals with recurring manic depression are often treated with lithium. When taken regularly and at a correct dosage, there is no sedation or other effect on awareness or mental functioning. "Treatment by medication should be entirely up to the patient," Mihalas said. "It may not be for everyone." "Manic depression should not be ignored," Jared said. "I wanted to ignore the fact that I had it, but eventually it overcomes you. It is undeniably an illness that can kill you. It must be recognized as something that needs treatment, whether by medication, counseling, or both."
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Archived Months:
September
1998 |
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