Mania is a psychiatric symptom that causes people to engage in excessive physical activity or to experience extreme feelings, such as elation or anger. Other symptoms related to mania include rapid thoughts and speech patterns, poor judgment and reckless behavior. It is a major component of bipolar disorder, a condition characterized by extreme mood swings between mania and depression. In some cases, mania may occur with relatively little depression.

Mania is associated with many emotions. On the surface, some of these feelings – such as euphoria and increased self-esteem – may appear to be positive. However, these feelings are grossly exaggerated beyond normal proportion. In addition, patients experience a range of clearly negative symptoms during manic episodes. Patients who are manic often have racing thoughts (known as “flight of ideas”) and may easily become irritable or hostile. They are often impatient and may intrude in the lives of others.

During episodes of extreme mania, patients may engage in extremely risky behaviors (e.g., road rage, promiscuity, excessive spending, substance abuse) or experience hallucinations or delusions of grandeur. Patients experiencing mania often need to be hospitalized to prevent harm to themselves or to others.

Mania-type symptoms may also appear as a result of conditions other than bipolar disorder, such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or late-stage syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease). It may also be a side effect of cocaine use or certain medications, including antidepressants.

Mania can be difficult to identify. Patients often deny that anything is wrong with them, and physicians may have to rely on the testimony of friends and family to confirm this symptom. Treatment of mania usually involves the drug lithium, which is effective in controlling mania in 60 percent of patients with bipolar disorder, according to the National Mental Health Association (NMHA).

Patients who do not respond to lithium or who suffer side effects when taking the drug can use alternative medications that often control symptoms without causing negative effects.