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Manic depression syndrome, also know as Bipolar Disorder, is a serious, two-faced mental illness that affects approximately three million people all across America today. Bipolar is characterized by a cycle of mood swings between elation and extreme depression. The elation phase is called Mania and the depressive phase is called the Depressive phase. Mania is the manic phase that is characterized by a euphoric or irritable mood that lasts at least one week. A manic episode is represented by change from a normal person to one that often interferes with work and personal relationships. Usually, Mania is the first episode in males. People experiencing a manic episode require hospitalization to return to a normal level of functioning. Symptoms of Mania include: excessive talking/pressured speech, an inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, irritability and excessive involvement in activities with pleasurable activities or high potential for painful con-sequences. When patients experience the symptom of racing thoughts or ideas, they feel like they are tuned into two or three sets of televisions on at once which may cause a person to switch a topic from on conversation to another. When patients gain an inflated self-esteem, they feel as though they could do things that they would normally never would be able to accomplish, such as winning the Olympic gold medal or become the President of the United States of America. The decreased need for sleep is the most common symptom of the manic period. People may only get a few hours of sleep every night or not get sleep at all and claim to feel refreshed and energized. There are three stages of mania that starts with hypomania. During the hypomania stage, the bipolar patients say that they are energetic, and assertive.
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