Delirious mania is a syndrome that is rarely spoken about. A google search will bring few results that are actually helpful, and the DSM-5 (the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) has nothing about delirious mania. So what exactly is this mystical syndrome that escapes psychiatrists and psychologists? Psychology Today describes delirious mania as delirium mixed with classic mania (learn more about the difference between modern mania and classical mania here). It is also noted that delirious mania includes psychosis as well as the mentioned symptoms.

The tragic part is that delirious mania was once recognized in all mental asylums, and patients who exhibited symptoms were watched very carefully. So why has delirious mania been left out? Back in the day nearly every professional knew about delirious mania, now it's a hit or miss if you'll actually receive the correct diagnosis and treatment. Even on the vast world of the Internet, you can't find a single video displaying or even speaking about delirious mania. According to Edward Shorter, this disappearance occurred post-World War II as symptoms of delirious mania became the norm of a society that refused to play nice. Shorter further explains that the term was last acknowledged in 1975. But what happened when this was no longer the norm? Being forgotten by the psychiatric worlds, delirious mania was and still is continuously misdiagnosed as various personality disorders or multiple disorders (such as bipolar and ADHD, as was the case with Anthony Hill).

Delirious mania has lived under many names, such as Explosive Personality, and is even occasionally described as a symptom of Schizophrenia. Perhaps it's time the psychiatric world take delirious mania for what it is and start looking into new treatments before it claims another life.

Learn even more about delirious mania in Edward Shorter's book 'What Psychiatry Left Out of the DSM-5: Historical Mental Disorders Today'.