What are your manic attacks like?

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For me, I get super creative and involved in my music. I'm a musician, and once I recorded a full length album overnight (just wrote the music and lyrics, and recorded 50 mins of music. My friend was in shock that I put out something that creative and good in only 1 day.)

Also, I will obsessively clean the house. I'll get all sweaty, but feel so high that I'll barely even feel tired. That is, until I come off the mania, in which case I'm exhausted.

I get really involved in creative pursuits that I don't normally get involved in otherwise. For example, I got really involved in abstract art during my last manic episode and painted all over my apartment walls, which really sucked because I didn't have permission to paint on the walls and though it looked really good, I had to paint over it before I moved.

I also tend to go for walks at 2 am. I'll be awake anyway and I'll just go for a walk. When I lived in a big city it was fine, I'd go for a walk down the busiest street and it would be reasonably safe, but now that I live in a smaller town I can't do that.

I also obsessively clean the house (whatever hour it may be), which is something my mother does and used to frustrate me when I was growing up. Guess we do all become like our parents.

Painting, painting, painting, or lots of dancing semi-nude.

I will self-harm, if I have tried all my coping skills and none of them have worked, though usually I am in a worse space for doing it. I certainly don't endorse using it as a coping mechanism. I don't like myself for doing it.

Dots, that sucks you had to paint over the art on the walls; did you at least take some photos?

WintersTale, what type of music do you play/write?

Mine haven't been extreme in a while... when I was younger, I would get huge creative bursts, have lots of energy to do lots of things.

Now it manifests mostly as a restless sleeplessness. Like now. It's nearly 3:30 and I can't rest... been doing this for weeks. My body feels exhausted and sluggish, but my mind won't give it up. Feels strange.

I'm fortunate in that I've only got a mild form of mania. When it hits, I start all kinds of projects, I connect very different things in my mind as related, and I want to spend money. The Dollar Store works really well when I want to spend money; I can go all out and only spend $20. I also experience a sense of euphoria. I also have been know to look & act like I'm on speed.