The Eyes Have It

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The Eyes Have It: Another Way to See Bipolar Disorder Mania

Look for mania in the eyes. Often you can spot a person’s mania (or your own) before other manic symptoms become pronounced.

Photo: pexels.com

By Julie A. Fast

It’s easy to recognize depression when you look at someone—at least the kind of depression we associate with slumped shoulders, feeling dead inside, and crying. But mania, oh mania! It can look like happiness. Or rage. It’s tricky to spot. And let me tell you: anything we can do to recognize mania in the early stages increases our ability to stop manic episodes before they go too far.

More than 20 years ago, I started taking pictures of my eyes. It wasn’t a part of any overall plan; I just had a feeling that my face changed depending on my mood. Once digital photography made this easier, I documented hundreds of my mood swingsthrough pictures—and I started to see unexpected patterns in my eyes related to mania.

I then used this process to help predict my own episodes so I could stop mania from taking over my life. I taught the process to my family and friends, and eventually to the parents and partners in my coaching practice.

My photo research gave me objective evidence that mania can affect my entire eye, including eye color, the pupils, a sparkly liquid film over the eyes, and a wideness or narrowing of the eye overall. Of course I had to rule out the possibility that mania itself was affecting how I saw my eyes. When I’m in a euphoric manic episode, which feels like an energized good mood, the world is bright and in technicolor. Everything sparkles. (I swear I see in gray when I’m severely depressed.) Conversely, dysphoric mania, also called mixed mania, feels like an energized bad mood. It makes me mean and upset. Nothing is colorful or fun. Photo evidence over the years has shown me that my photographs do document these differences—it is not my imagination.

Three clues to recognizing mania in the eyes

Clue #1, Sparkling Eyes in Euphoric Mania: Euphoric mania often creates a shimmering quality to the liquid in the eyes. We sparkle! I have seen what look like silver, shimmering flecks in the whites of my eyes when I’m euphoric. People find this very attractive. We all know how easy it is to get a relationship when you’re euphoric. When we focus our sparkling eyes on our unsuspecting prey, they are lost!

Clue #2, Darker Eyes in Dysphoric Mania: Once I started asking clients to notice eye changes in a loved one, I heard many stories of how dysphoric mania turned the eyes black. I tried to figure this out on my own, and finally asked an eye doctor about it. She said, “Oh, I’m not surprised by that. It’s documented that adrenaline can make the pupil take over the eye. Mania sounds like it’s something to do with adrenaline, so I would think the eye is the same color, but the pupil is huge. This creates the appearance of an all-black eye.” I need to do further research to see why this only seems to happen with dysphoric mania. (People have also told me they see blue eyes that actually turn brown, and green eyes that change shades in all forms of mania.)

Clue #3, The Eyes Change Shape: The eyes often widen with euphoric mania. My entire face brightens in euphoric mania, so it makes sense that I would open my eyes wider as well. I look completely different when dysphoric: my eyes narrow and I have a suspicious, angry squint.

Once you start looking for mania in the eyes, you can spot a person’s mania (or your own) often before other manic symptoms become more pronounced. I’m furthering my research with the goal of creating a tool that can be used to diagnosis mania through physical symptoms and ultimately help dispel the myth that bipolar disorder is an emotionally based illness.

Pictures don’t lie. And they can be remarkable conversation starters when the person with bipolar disorder is ready to talk. This is also an excellent technique for health-care professionals to share with people who are not convinced they have the illness.

Creating a process that physically documents my mania has profoundly changed my own management plan. After years of practice, I can better see when I’m manic by studying photos of my eyes or simply looking in the mirror. You can, too.

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Published as Fast Talk: The eyes have it, Fall 2017