SEX...

Sex . . . A period of lewdness and shamelessness exists with the highest type of [manic] delirium. - ARETAEUS OF CAPPADOCIA (c. 30-90 AD) [Sexual excitability] is increased and leads to hasty engagements, marriages by the newspaper, improper love-adventures, conspicuous behavior, fondness for dress, on the other hand to jealousy and matrimonial discord. - EMIL KRAEPELIN (1856-1926)   A very common symptom in maniacal conditions is erotic excitement. This varies from mere coquetry, a somewhat extended application of the command "love one another", an undue attenion to the opposite sex, and so forth, up to the extreme of salacity, when the mind is wholly occupied by the urgent sexual appetite, and all restraint is abandoned. - DANIEL HACK TUKE (1827-1895) Again judging from my own experience, the sexual symptoms of the manic state seem to be the most powerful and important of all . . . . The normal inhibitions disappear, and sexual activity, instead of being placed, as in our Western Christian civilization, in opposition to religion, becomes associated with it. This release of the underlying sexual tension . . . seems to me to be the primary and governing factor of all the ecstasies and many other experiences of the manic state. - JOHN CUSTANCE (1952) It's amazing how many of the most fascinating quotes on bipolar deal with sex and money. It is also amazing how old some these particular quotes on bipolar are. To me this is striking evidence that financial recklessness and hypersexuality are probably the two commonest signs of a full-blown manic episode.