Winging Mania; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Meltdown

Oboro

Q: When one is fairly confident that they are in the midst of a manic high and that the decisions they are making are rooted pretty firmly in that, how should one self-correct?

I am in a part of the country where I know absolutely nobody. After a few weeks of wallowing in depression, I've had a regular sing-song day of sunshine and love-- I left my room for the first time in two weeks, sang along with the radio in my car (driving it for the first time in weeks), cared about my appearance and hygiene again, etc. Maybe it's just upswing! Maybe it's not. I don't know. Does it matter?

There's a nightlife district in the nearest city that I vaguely know of. I want very much to go there and be overtly social and probably hook up with someone. I know that if I leave myself entirely unchecked, I will also look for a venue by which to purchase drugs and try to sleep with people.

At what point do I cut myself off? Do I

1) Not go out tonight altogether, instead burning the energy off pacing around my room fervently feverish about not having anyone with whom to cavort

2) Go out and try my best to self-moderate, an idea which boils down to wishful thinking if this is really more manic than plotted

I'd opt more readily for #2 if I had some sort of friend or other frame of reference/pole to leash myself to, but. I don't. So I feel all or nothing. Black and white, baby! Party or bore like an earthworm? Math is hard.

The fact that there's absolutely nothing to do here until this nightlife district comes to life is fortunate in the sense that it's giving me time to self-correct bad habits, but I'm still not sure how much to correct them. Getting this out vocally so that people can lambaste me for even considering option #2 (or the unmentioned-but-alluded-to option #3) will probably help me inch my unwilling way towards accepting choice #1.

Or maybe I'm just off my rocker and I'm perfectly fine and should go have a good time I mean that seems like it would be a good time buh.

EDIT: Since I skirted an obvious issue in my haste and wanting to come across as adorable and clever, yes I have been diagnosed bipolar and medicated for it in the past, but have since had to go off medication and have been living via self-correction and luck since then.

Sami

Go have fun Obo, you don't have nearly enough of it in your life. Just bring a condom and be safe.

b0bd0d

humm...can you do stuff that is positive but fun? I used to do a lot of bad shit and when I decided to stop I had to find something else to do. Ended up in junkyards taking cars apart for fun at the pull-a-part. And making my own canvases, painting with water balloons (really fun), making wood shit, electronics, programming, working, walking around town, getting a girlfriend, etc. It's completely different being up all night sexing then being up all night tweaking. Hell, find a fat girl. They're down for anything most of the time. Also learned to drive a stick and scuba dive. Now that's fun. I'm all underwater breathing and stuff. It confuses the hell outta your body. Hell, buy a motorcycle. See how good the mania high is at 100 mph on a bicycle with a motor attached. Nothing like doing middle triple digits through traffic. Hell yeah! Go all out! Moderation is for monks. Just go find some crazy shit to do that doesn't involve drugs or drinking.

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?" "I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.