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To: Robert C. Petersen who wrote (3461)	3/23/1999 2:01:00 AM
From: nihil	Respond to of 13018

"Been down so long it looks like up to me" is a book I read maybe 20 years ago -- don't recall the song. "Manic Episode" according to APA included (1980) A. A distinct period of abormality and persistently elevated, expansive or irritable mood. B. At least three of the following symptoms: (1) inflated self-esteem or grandiosity (2) Decreased need for sleep (3) More talkative than usual (4) Flight of ideas or subjective eerience that thoughts are racing (4) Distractibility (6) Increased activity (7) Excessive involvement in activities that have a high potential for painful consequenses. C. Symptoms sufficiently severe to cause markedimpairment in occupational functioning, social activites, or relationships D. Not due to diagnosable brain injury or schizophrenia A "Manic Syndrome " is defined as including criteria A, B, and C above. A "Hypomanic" syndrome is defined as including criteria A and B, but not C, i.e. no marked impairment. "Severe mania" is almost unmistakable, even to an inexperience layman. A sufferer may attempt extreme and dangerous stunts (like running on the backs of seats at Oscar awards ceremonies, or leaping tall buildings at a single bound. Some presumably healthy people, like Evil Knieval, might be diagnosed, and the existence of this state accounts for many guardrails and restrictions of entry. I recall some youthful drunks having a 3 am footrace down 5th avenue barefoot and full forward body rolls being required when ever the leader in the race chose. I remember other college youths stealing a horse and leading it to the top of Holder Tower. Many such episode are mere high jinks, but are often symptomatic of severe mania compounded by drunkenness in young people. Mania is neither fun or amusing, although in hypomania some people are astounding -- imagine Leonardo da Vinci stalking the walls with a homemade rifle sniping enemies and declaring that with a regiment of riflemen he could conquer the world. Alexander, Caesar, and men of the others who dared may have suffered from hypomania, but there are probably many truly excellent people who should be classified as simply excellent. The overconfidence and irrationality of many great people perhaps reflect hypomania. As a truly advanced science is indistringuishable from magic, so a truly successful conqueror against the odds may be indistinguishable from hypomania. e.g. Michael Dell, Bill Gates, and Larry Ellison. Then there are people like Jerry who are too unsuccessul and slip into just plain mania.