Symptoms

• Mania (manic episode)
  • lack of insight,
  • denial,
  • needing little sleep yet having lots of energy,
  • excessive talkativeness,
  • racing thoughts,
  • restlessness,
  • distracted behavior,
  • inflated feelings of power and greatness,
  • reckless nature in money, society or sexual actions,
  • aggressive behavior.

In severe cases, the sufferer may experience hallucinations and delusions.

• Hypo mania (hypo mania episode)
  • elevated mood.

this is a milder form of mania with less impairment. Quest for hypo mania state, in which the sufferer feels "better" may cause sufferers to stop medication; this is obviously dangerous as this can lead to escalation to mania or crash to depression.

• Depression (major depressive episode)
  • difficulty in functioning,
  • insomnia-trouble sleeping,
  • loss of appetite or abnormal over-eating,
  • difficulty in decision making,
  • feelings of lethargy,
  • having little energy,
  • feelings of worthlessness, guilt and low self-esteem,
  • thoughts of suicide.

the last point is  a worrying one but in the depressed state, the sufferer has no energy so is unable to carry out and can only contemplate.

• Mixed (mixed episode)

this is a mixture of both mania and depression and perhaps the most dangerous. The sufferer feels depressed and down yet also has energy and elation. This episode has potentially the most drastic and destroying effect.