Synonyms
Bipolar affective disorder, manic-depressive disorder, cyclothymia, depression
Definition
Mania is a mood disorder, similar to depression. It is usually very elevated (“sky-high exultation”) or in rare cases angry (dysphoric). A distinction is made between hypomanic episodes, psychotic mania and mixed manic-depressive episodes.
Epidemiology
Mania as an individually occurring (unipolar) mood disorder is very, very rare. Much more often it occurs in connection with a depressive disorder. Approximately 20% of patients suffering from a recurrent (recurrent) depressive disorder experience manic or hypomanic episodes during the course of the disease.
This disease therefore has 2 “poles”, one manic and one depressive. It is therefore called a bipolar-affective (“2-pole mood disorder”) disease. These diseases start earlier than unipolar depression.
In this case, the first illness can occur as early as the age of 18. A 2nd so-called peak of the disease is around the age of 30. Men and women are equally ill.
The lifetime risk is about 1.5%. Every 10th person affected develops a so-called “rapid cycling”, i.e. a very fast change between mania and depression. About half of all patients develop psychotic symptoms (see chapter Schizophrenia).
Symptoms
Typical symptoms of a mania are: Ideas of size and increased self-esteem: Manic patients consider themselves to be significantly more qualified and intelligent than they actually are in the context of the disease. This can give otherwise shy and inhibited patients in particular a completely new attitude to life. This overestimation of one’s own abilities can even lead to megalomania.
- Size ideas and increased self-assessment
- Increased urge to speak
- Formal thinking disorders
- Irritability
- Increased physical restlessness
- Significantly reduced need for sleep
- Increased libido and sexual activity
Increased need to talk A clearly increased need to talk is a very common symptom of mania. (“Speaking without dot and comma”). This urge to speak is usually spoken at an inappropriate volume and with great enthusiasm.
Others do not get a chance to speak and often feel run over. This symptom is also called logorrhoea. Formal thinking disorders Formal thinking does not describe what we think, but rather how we think.
In contrast to normal thought processes, which usually tend to be straight, i.e. linear, the manic patient can think of 1000 things at once. The thoughts force themselves upon him (thought urge). This can become a very big problem in the severe stage of mania, because the thoughts rush in and out so quickly that the patient can no longer be reached by the outside world.
Irritability: Even slight stimuli from the outside world or sudden ideas can cause the patient suffering from mania to lose the “red thread”. It comes from “Höckstken auf Stickstken”. Increased physical restlessness: The patient can no longer sit still, he can no longer find peace.
He is constantly driven. In combination with other symptoms, this leads to an inability to perform regular and concentrated work. Significantly reduced need for sleep: The reduced need for sleep is often seen as a harbinger of manic episodes.
In the course of time, the need for sleep shrinks to about 3-4 hours per night. These short sleep phases are normally experienced by the patient as extremely restful. In individual cases, the need for sleep can also be completely eliminated, so that the patient can get by without sleep for many days.
Increased libido and sexual activity: A mania usually leads to a clearly increased sexual drive in the sick person. This can cause many problems. Frequently there is increased sexual contact with a large number of people.
This is of course a physical threat (HIV etc. ), but also a real threat to the social situation.
