With Manic/Depressive is there a correlation between the two phases?

Manic/Depressive what exactly? These are adjectives, much as the word “bipolar” is. They are meant to describe something, not stand alone as nouns.

Sorry @glacial I should have said Manic Depression – serious shifts in mood, energy, thinking, and behavior from the highs of mania on one extreme, to the lows of depression on the other.

I think it is also called Bipolar Disorder.

@rojo Thanks for the clarification. :)

These are some of the symptoms I am seeing in my friend:
Unusually “high” and optimistic
Unrealistic, grandiose beliefs about his abilities.
Sleeping very little.
Very short naps at odd times in the day.
Extremely energetic
Talking so rapidly that others can’t keep up
Racing thoughts; jumping quickly from one idea to the next
Highly distractible, unable to concentrate
Impaired judgment, impulsiveness
Acting recklessly without thinking about the consequences
Excessive alcohol consumption to the point of passing out.
Possible drug use/abuse.

I have seen some of these before but not to the extreme that it is now. As I mentioned he has had some pretty traumatic emotional drama in his life over the past couple of weeks that would be hard for anyone to deal with. Not only are these symptoms unsettling right now but I am very concerned about the coming crash.
No, he won’t get help. No, he doesn’t see a problem, No, he won’t even discuss it.

My mom, who has bi-polar and depression, seemed to have the mania independently of the depression.

She would get excited about something, or have a new idea, get amped up and not come down until it morphed into mania. She always slept and seemed to eat normally at those times. It seemed to me she got an idea stuck in her head and couldn’t move past that.

During her alcohol use, the mania could be brought on by alcohol and attention, she could party harder and longer than anyone else. She hurt herself during this phase a lot, like falling down, DUI, etc…

Basically no one on medication should be drinking without checking the interaction, and with her meds, her doctor told her she could pick drinking or being healthy, so she finally quit drinking at age 55.

Emotional trauma, especially relationship drama, can bring on mania and depression both. I remember she broke up with a man after six years or so, and was rocking herself saying “Jan’s not here”, it was scary.

As far as coming down gently, it varies with how ‘far out’ you get with the mania. If it’s just excitement that’s on the upward swing to mania, I could usually talk her down, but if it’s at the peak of mania, you have to let it run it’s course and amp down. Mom sold her car and took off to California once during mania, so you do have to be cognizant of that and have a person around to keep your feet on the ground.

Lost a whole long post just now but my main point is that you need meds and therapy to control Bipolar disorder. However, until your friend recognizes this or does something severely destructive, it will be hard to get him help. My friend who has Bipolar disorder is very disciplined about all aspects of his life and does not drink.

Just a followup here. Well, there was not a big downward crash, he just came in acting like his old self again. I was relieved.

On the other hand, he did not see that there had been a problem in the first place and could not grasp the fact that he had done a 360 degree turnaround over the past two weeks. Even when shown the list of symptoms he claimed he “was not THAT bad”.

After a little more research I believe that perhaps he is more prone to hypomania than mania. One article Source states that “John D. Gartner’s The Hypomanic Edge (Simon and Schuster) “draws a line between hypomania – recognized by such markers as inflated self-esteem, a decreased need for sleep, and episodes of risky behavior – and its far more dangerous cousin, mania.” He then goes on to illustrate his thesis that there may be an “up” side to the less dangerous hypomania. His thesis includes a strong link between, ”(a little) Craziness and (a Lot of) Success”; the book features short biographies of such overachievers as Christopher Columbus, Alexander Hamilton, and Andrew Carnegie. It is questionable whether hypomania occurs without being part of a cycle of mania or depression. Patients rarely, if ever, seek out a psychiatrist complaining of hypomania. ”

Thanks to all those who gave their thoughts and input.