Video: Author Explains The Stages Of Mania

A YouTube video by Garrett Campbell, titled “What Does a Manic Episode Feel Like?” shares a personal, step-by-step account of what it’s like to experience mania from someone who’s lived through it.

The stages of Mania

Stage one – High on life

It always begins quietly. The sun seems brighter, ambitions crisper. The alarm goes off, but Garrett is already awake, pulse electric, ready for the world.

He feels a gentle, rising tide—optimism blooming. Procrastination vanishes. To-do lists get tackled. A fresh goal is born, often sparkling with entrepreneurial promise. Each morning dawns with sharper intention.

Stage two – Ideas start to flow

Over the days, momentum grows. The goals become grander, almost too big for one person, yet they feel entirely possible.

He set ambitious new goals—an extra YouTube channel, the idea for a book, business endeavors he knew would pay off.

He shares the new ideas with friends and family. His excitement, contagious to him, can seem overwhelming, even strange, to those around him.

They notice the shift before he does. Their concern interrupts the rush, sparks prickly irritation. It’s hard to listen. Why should anyone dampen this surge of possibility?

Stage three – Hiding symptoms

The ascent continues. Sleep thins and then fades—first six hours, then four, sometimes none. The night transforms into another canvas for his ambitions. Inspiration kept him awake late into the nights, his mind racing from thought to thought. Any attempt by loved ones to intervene only strengthened his resolve.

The practical world fades as obsession takes root. But now, caution flickers in. Memories from past spirals echo, and Garrett starts hiding symptoms from those closest to him. The isolation became deliberate, self-protective—he didn’t want these unstoppable ideas interrupted.

He knows the warning signs as well as they do. Camouflage becomes a survival instinct; the mask slips on.

Cannabis enters furtively, a catalyst. For Garrett, it acts as an accelerant, tossing gasoline onto the embers already burning in his mind. He knows it plays a distinct role in pushing him over the edge.

Stage four – The manic crescendo

Days without sleep, energy almost inhuman. Reality bends—TV commercials seem custom-made, strangers orchestrated just for him. The boundaries separating thought from the world dissolve.

Delusions of grandeur settle in; the certainty of being chosen, even divine, becomes unshakable. Sometimes fear rides along with it, but often, it’s a rush of awe. He recalls staring into the sun as though it were an invitation, not a danger. The fallout—permanent damage, a scar in his vision.

Stage five – Hospitalization

The collapse is inevitable. Friends or police intervene. Sometimes he cooperates, sometimes not. Looking back, some actions remain too embarrassing to share—evidence of a mind losing control.

The mania ends with exhaustion, confusion, and regrets, but also a sense of survival, and a determination to notice the early warning lights next time.

Cannabis, he notes, is not a footnote in his story, but a turning point. It cuts through the early resolve and signals the breaking of boundaries—a lesson learned from repeated cycles.

Through all the stages of mania, the cycle is the same: It starts with subtle shifts, builds with unchecked energy, tips into secrecy, rushes into psychosis, and then, finally, ends with collapse.

This story, intense and unpredictable, reveals not just the peaks of mania but the profound costs it can exact. Garrett’s journey shows how easily everyday ambition can morph into risky behavior, and how crucial support and early intervention can be in the winding journey through bipolar disorder.

Garrett Campbell, a registered pharmacist runs the YouTube channel Drug Talk. The video has earned almost 70,000 views.

Comment from Mania Insights editor Alex Rowan: This closely resembles my own stages of mania. It was my first, and I didn’t see it coming, or realize the ultimately destructive power of it’s peak and crash. Now that I do, I hope to be aware of the signs, and avoid another episode. I’ll certainly take the advice to not consuming any cannabis products, as I can see a link with it in my hypomanic phase.