Happiness is a warm gun

The only way I can describe you euphoria is by comparing it to hypnotism. It seems unbelievable, fake, and yet scientists can show that its real. People who have undergone its powers can attest that their experiences are legitimate. According to Wikipedia, "Persons under hypnosis are said to have heightened focus and concentration with the ability to concentrate intensely on a specific thought or memory, while blocking out sources of distraction." This, for me, exactly describes euphoria. All of my senses become dulled so that there's no distractions. It's like getting high from pot. Everything becomes slow motion. I can concentrate with an intense like zen state. It's amazing.

But that's not the issue. If this was the only thing I could glean from euphoria, I could be a genius. The problem stems from the intense happiness associated with it. This is mania. Imagine being so happy that you become destructive. Spending spree? Can't be a bad thing when I'm feeling so good. Wasting money doesn't seem bad when you feel guilty. Illogical thinking? Logic becomes distorted when you feel so good. Ever made a bad decision when you're drunk. That's what mania is. Bad decisions. Clouded thinking. Even the most upright person can fall victim. 

This is why education about manic depressive (or bipolar) is important. Much like how we don't blame a person for alcoholism, you can't blame the manic depressive for the damage done when they're manic. They're a different person going through an intense experience. This could probably be said about criminals. Is anyone truly a sociopath? Should we blame the individual for a crime? Or should we examine that nature of why the criminal committed a crime. But I digress. This is socialist talk, and in a country that spout its morals while also looking for justice porn, to suggest we help the individual rather than punish them communism. I'm speaking in hyperbole, but you get the point.

And yet, mental health has come a long way. For example, look at the Disability Discrimination Act. The fact that I live in a country that identifies mental disorders alongside physical disorders is comforting. Mental heath is a legitimate medical disorder and its only time before scientist provide a way to medically diagnose a disease such as schizophrenia or manic depressive. This is why the funding for this research is so important. As it stands, the only way to diagnose the aforementioned disorders is based off of testimonials and observation. There is no blood test for manic depressive. Which is why it's so important we understand mania. I have trouble imparting to people who have never witnessed a manic person behave the dangers of what mania is. Which brings us back to euphoria.

Why can't we contain it? If there was a way to harness the good effects of it, the concentration, positive mood, elevated spirit, hell even the raise of confidence, this country could very well be the leader in behavior modification. Of course, we already have this in the form of marijuana, but that is just more liberal talk. I'd rather explore it from a medical standpoint. Couldn't they devise a pill that bring on a hypomanic state? One that brought the good feeling while curbing the distorted logic. I can attest that mania does have its benefits. Increased energy, productive behavior. I mean, when I go manic I get shit done. I spent three days reorganizing my garage. The place was a dump. You couldn't even see the floor because of all the junk that was in there. Three days and I not only cleaned it out, I had built shelves for the all the walls, organized all of my tools into a cohesive design, and washed the floor. That was production.

                                         multiculturalhealing.org

But as always, mania leads to destruction. Maybe I'm asking for too much. Isn't life just fleeting moments of happiness and despair. With the good must come the bad. Maybe looking the happiness is asking for the warm gun as John Lennon would say. For now I'll stick with reality.