Is It Mania or Is It Memorex?

6/3/07

So, paging through a woman's mag I spy a quiz hosted by some drug company for symptoms of mania and feeling feisty, take it. Hmm, seems that all this new energy, decreased need for sleep, increased productivy and creativity, new ideas and generalized feeling of well-being qualifies me for a mood disorder. Haven't succumbed to the increased spending, irritability, non-stop talking and inability to work qualifiers but those drug companies would still like me to believe I'm "moderately severe." What, alive?


Since this has been going on for about about a year and seems to have a positive benefit , why would I or anyone want to diagnose it an "ill"ness rather than a "well"ness? I'm beginning to wonder if we're not medicating a nation, through anti-depressants and anxiety pills, out of our right-ful feelings. Not to belittle any mental illness as chemical imbalances, which I believe they are, but maybe we could look at our lows and highs as part of the natural cycles of life. When one feels an "irrational exuberance" at the sight of a perfect flower or the scent of a freshly baked loaf of bread should one worry or thank God? Leave the corporate nest to open up a needlepoint store, are you nuts or finding yourself? Why do we call those wrinkles around our eyes "crow's feet?" They look like sunburts to me.

When my daughter twirls and dips in the aisle at her dad's concert (completely out of synch with the music, but who cares) it makes me wonder when we all stopped dancing and playing in the sand and lowing with the huge lurking garbage trucks in the morning. Could not "manias" "unusual behaviour" "mid-life crises" be merely the memories of those wondrous child-like moments burbling up through our thick adult mantles?

The pasta fell out of the cabinet and before the word "shit" made its way to my mouth, I saw sunbeams radiating out of the knife rack. I thank whatever hormones, caffeine or inner contents that gave me a different perspective on such a mundane event. Jane Wagner in "The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe" opines: "I made some studies, and reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it." I agree.