Different types of mania:

[Socra Maat]

As an Intp, I experience:

Knowledge/Info mania: When tripping across a subject and suddenly devouring it for a period of time, careless to much to else. Moods are numbed as you chew away at good ol' info/ideals. It just tastes so good. (A. The digestion >>)

Concept Mania: The wide associative "brainstorming" mania that can arise at any random instant, the intuitive adrenaline I live for.
When I'm alone it can last for a few hours, socially it's only presented in small curious tangents.. appropriately held back. (>>B. The cosmic poop)

Emotional / Fe Mania: I think us INTP's have the capacity for infatuation at first conversation. When someone actually *clicks* with us, its explosive. The attraction is mutually exponential; a neck-breaking speed. I feel like a freakin' Casanova when that "switch" goes off. Everything flows right, I'm actually SAYING the right things I'd imagine in my head later, the confident wit is available here and now. Rare.

What am I missing? How many ways do you experience "mania"?

 

[QuickTwist]

Mania is typically associated more accurately with mental illness, not INTPs. The most common mental illness that is associated with mania is Bipolar I. It is also present in other forms of bipolar and Schizoaffective disorder as well. While it may appear that an individual is experiencing mania that does not have a mental illness, it is usually because that individual has a state of euphoria and/or excitement. Circumstance are usually the reason for this. While circumstances can trigger mania in people with the mental illnesses I mentioned above, it can also be triggered simply by a chemical imbalance in the brain wherein lies the difference. Also the frequency and justification of this state of excitement (and grandiose thinking) also come into play in whether or not the individual can be categorized as having a mental illness that has symptoms of mania.

I believe what you have discovered has more to do with the manifestation of mania in individuals rather than what or how mania is categorized. It is an interesting theory and I think there is some validity to it if not for the fact that you may just be experiencing excitement and/or euphoria which everyone experiences from time to time.

In my personal experience I know when I am manic and when I am just exited [rare]. In mania there is a certain out-of-controlness that I experience where my impulses take over my consciousness and I am unable to keep a good grasp of reality. In this way, the mania is something that is irrational with little to no concrete reason for being in that state.

To conclude I think what you are experiencing is far more logical that what is present in persons with a mental illness that experience mania. I will give you credit for coming up with an interesting theory; creative minds are what make the world go round. It is noteworthy that you do get exited about certain happenings and this is a good thing. For as the story goes, the mathematician with complete disregard for his decency got out of the tub and running down the street naked stated yelling "eureka! I found it!"

 

[Socra Maat]

Oh wow. Great input.

Well, I understand that the Info mania may stem from the choline pathway. The Concept mania from Phasic Dopamine bursts.

INTP minds are distinctly meso-limbic, ...
I researched ass backwards from all disorders, syndromes, (sluggish cognitive tempo), etc. Through neurotransmitters, amino acids, and such. Only now have I arrived at the myer briggs.. and it adds up.

The INTP neurological circumstance renders itself very susceptible in developing disorders.
While I agree, this mania is different, I strongly believe it's also the base plate that can be morphed into the scariest and most defeating versions of mental illness.

How long before an ethereal rubber band becomes distorted? Probably quicker than the tire planted on earth, in my opinion.

 

[Socra Maat]

Also, why are INTP's so fearful of their own mind? Is this not an instinctual indicator with purpose? The purpose being the intuitive knowledge of self-attributes.
AKA: I have the dopamine voltage to literally turn myself crazy. My untamed mind IS an incomprehensible beast to be feared. There is an importance in this certainty.

 

[QuickTwist]

Ironically I came off a mania swing, and so now that I have a more rational mind I am able to generate some good ideas. What people see in my recent posts is who am really am in rl. I am very exploratory and idea oriented and when combined with a sane mind I can come up with some good stuff. Usually when I am depressed I have a certain lackluster of unique or educational ideas and I just spit out what I easily know and am not very creative.

 

[QuickTwist]

Also, why are INTP's so fearful of their own mind? Is this not an instinctual indicator with purpose? The purpose being the intuitive knowledge of self-attributes.
AKA: I have the dopamine voltage to literally turn myself crazy. My untamed mind IS an incomprehensible beast to be feared. There is an importance in this certainty.

Fearful of their own mind is one way to put it. Another way is to say they are so overwhelmed with new and exiting ideas that it all becomes a blur and they start to second-guess the validity of their own thinking.

As for the dopamine level... (http://bpd.about.com/od/glossary/g/dopamine.htm) yeah, that can mess you up. Without anti-psychotic medication no doubt my dopamine level would be through the roof. Imagination would take over and I would become extremely delusional to the point where I would be living in a world consisting only of hallucinations and paranoid imagery. I have it pretty bad but I try to remain positive to the best of my ability. I was catatonic with psychosis for the better part of two weeks of my life. I've come a long way.

 

[Invisible Jellyfish]

I loved your ''brainstorming mania''. I assume that to you it is more like ''oh, an idea... eh, another one... and again... damn, so many ideas!'' and you don't really think about anything else, like, deepening them? I'm asking that because, well, I'm not INTP but INTJ and to me a ''brainstorming idea'' is more... structural, think - even if I have more then 1 idea in my head, I would still take them one by one and make them more complete and sometimes even working on several at once...
...I assume that to you - INTPs - its not really something that becames a more complex collection of ideas after a while, but more like sketches.

Correct me if I misunderstood.

 

[Cherry Cola]

You can speak of mania without referring to its part in certain mental illnesses, since it's a word with a diverse etymology :O

I like the three types of mania you list, they fit in well with what I know about INTPs, I wonder how such a list would look for some other types though. All N-types probably have the capacity for the concept mania which you describe. Likewise it should be possible to attribute the other manias to other types as well. Ideally it would be cool to have a list where types can share a maximum of two mania's so that each has a unique combination

 

[TBerg]

Mania is what maniacs experience, which is what happens when you have something in your field of experience that pulls you and won't let go until it is satisfied. It makes you think that something is an imperative. We might say that death and life is manic in some people. Would we say that depression is bereft of mania? Or would that be to fail to consider one of those deadly mixed-states? Does mania mean that there are angels and demons that actually DO save us in times of need? Or are they simply parasites corrupting our egos with their imperatives and prohibitions? When do we say where the parasitism begins and the symbiosis begins? Are angels really symbionts and demons really parasites? Is the Christ-character really the symbolic image of eternal life, a mania of death becoming life? Is the ultimate gospel that certain manias come to life when they are followed through to the bitter end?

Edit: Sorry for the Ne trail of wreckage.

 

[Socra Maat]

I loved your ''brainstorming mania''. I assume that to you it is more like ''oh, an idea... eh, another one... and again... damn, so many ideas!'' and you don't really think about anything else, like, deepening them? I'm asking that because, well, I'm not INTP but INTJ and to me a ''brainstorming idea'' is more... structural, think - even if I have more then 1 idea in my head, I would still take them one by one and make them more complete and sometimes even working on several at once...
...I assume that to you - INTPs - its not really something that becames a more complex collection of ideas after a while, but more like sketches.

Correct me if I misunderstood.

Now that the juice is running I'll specify:

Yes and no. (So much irony there, lol)

The ideas do bubble gradually, quickly, and they are very much sketches initially.

After that initial phase is the association connect. You see I'll string along ideas, building momentum..
A conceptual cobweb snowball ensues, and the "grand concept ," emerges. The moment that is life. My body gets goosebumps, and I can be no more alive. This is something special, something original, possibly a timeless contribution to "understanding". And there on I run it through my head over and over, loosely checking connections. Usually tweaking the concept to any missed discrepancies or sub tangents After a hour or two,. I'm usually exhausted and mentally wrenched, but with a warm content glow.

Its a very bittersweet life. The richness of this mania is life changing and fulfilling to the intp, almost sacred. Often, not shared.. my rhetoric and lack of structure ruin the beauty of the concept and make me look stupid trying to explain. This is infinitely frustrating, and can make people falsely undervalued you by a large margin if they are not close.

If I had the amazing Jness shown in Good Will Hunting, my confidence would radiate and stand unshakeable.

 

[QuickTwist]

Now that the juice is running I'll specify:

Yes and no. (So much irony there, lol)

The ideas do bubble gradually, quickly, and they are very much sketches initially.

After that initial phase is the association connect. You see I'll string along ideas, building momentum..
A conceptual cobweb snowball ensues, and the "grand concept ," emerges. The moment that is life. My body gets goosebumps, and I can be no more alive. This is something special, something original, possibly a timeless contribution to "understanding". And there on I run it through my head over and over, loosely checking connections. Usually tweaking the concept to any missed discrepancies or sub tangents After a hour or two,. I'm usually exhausted and mentally wrenched, but with a warm content glow.

Its a very bittersweet life. The richness of this mania is life changing and fulfilling to the intp, almost sacred. Often, not shared.. my rhetoric and lack of structure ruin the beauty of the concept and make me look stupid trying to explain. This is infinitely frustrating, and can make people falsely undervalued you by a large margin if they are not close.

If I had the amazing Jness shown in Good Will Hunting, my confidence would radiate and stand unshakeable.

This is much akin to the way I feel and process information. The only real difference that I can tell is that I typically do not take as much pride in my discoveries leaving a warm and fuzzy feeling aftereffect. The feeling I have after I have discovered something is more like "This is how it works. Now what is the next thing." Sorta like there is an insatiable quest to understand-which is I'm sure what you also can identify with.

 

[Socra Maat]

Yeah, hit it on the nail. I think the difference is that these experiences are a way of identifying myself and my value in existence. Often, I feel empty because my value is not appreciable in society, and perhaps there's blatant truism there. A mania session grounds my psyche and makes me feel useful, yet I've known since a kid that somewhere in that mechanism also lies the root of my silent life struggles.

 

[Steven Gerrard]

I haven't felt the infatuation mania for a long time.

Since I was like 16.

14 seems like the primary year for that sortoff feeling.

I'm 19 now.

When was the last time you felt the infatuation mania?
I sortoff miss it.

Mine was always tied up in intense neurosis and maybe not quiet healthy states.

But on the whole I think that feeling is maybe immature and more for teenagers but not unhealthy.

When was the last time you felt it?

 

[QuickTwist]

I have no idea what you mean by infatuation mania.

in·fat·u·a·tion
inˌfaCHo͞oˈāSHən/Submit
noun
1.
an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something.

Infatuation is pretty much just a way to describe mania.

@Socra Maat, are you clinically diagnosed with bipolar? Pretty much everything you are describing in this thread indicates so disregarding grandiose thinking that you have not said that you experience or not.

 

[Steven Gerrard]

I think it's like when you're a teenager and you idealize a girl.

And you go outside and jump in the sunlight feeling fine.

Am I talking about what you are describing Socra?

 

[Socra Maat]

First, I felt it (recently) about a week ago.. (has been about a year since the last one).
Second, yes.. thats a s good way to describe it

Huge Ne Si release:
I've been experimenting on myself for sometime, this recent mania has helped me connect a few strings.
I now think Piracetam and Inositol*Hexanicotinate replicates it. Also adds a subtle S vibe. Love it. Makes perfect sense, pathway and transmitter wise. Serotonin and acetylcholine combined
Increase my F and S sensebilities, as they should.
Today felt great, I was essentially prowling on my way to class, with an ISTP type of confidence. I would catch a girls eye.. and instead of instinct, I stayed there locked for a few seconds, then throw a warm genuine smile. For the first time, I was analyzing and enjoying this.. I got way more honest blushes than I had ever thought. I talked to a few girls, not seemingly easier ones, no sir. The sexy ones and cute ones. Felt great, and I completely cut one off to chase another, who ended up being an awesome *click* and we exchange info.
Might be my new cocktail, tomorrow night should be fun

 

[Socra Maat]

I have no what you mean by infatuation mania.

in·fat·u·a·tion
inˌfaCHo͞oˈāSHən/Submit
noun
1.
an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something.

Infatuation is pretty much just a way to describe mania.

@Socra Maat, are you clinically diagnosed with bipolar? Pretty much everything you are describing in this thread indicates so disregarding grandiose thinking that you have not said that you experience or not.

I mean infatuation as a unique, dual emotional/cognitive state. In my personal opinion its like When Ti, Ne, Si and Fe actually run smoothly together in synch on mild over clock. Stands to why its such a rare occurrence... not including the fact it requires honest social participation to begin with. Then, as a liberated frequent dating intp, you see the click is a dependent on the person, its certain personality archetypes that act as psychological keys to this state... the Fe mirror dynamic is very very mysterious and strange . I could go on about this in correlation to pheromones, and separately, how personality types perceive and react to each, and on and on.

And yes, I fit the description of Bipolar, Add-PI, Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, and schizotypal during Si - Ti loops (Twice).