Symptom and Reflection Paper
Everyone has moments of excitement, talkativeness episodes, generosity, or irritability. These moods normally stand out in a definite period. However, people suffering from mania have hyperbolic moods and thus they are isolated and locked out of conventional relationships; hence, such people are abnormal people. Mania is the DSM disorder symptom of my choice for this paper.
I had invited friends to our home to watch a football match. They arrived early enough and we had normal conversations before the match. One of the teams was my favorite team playing against another minor team at the bottom of the league standing. My favorite team scored as expected, but I did not celebrate with my friends. It was difficult to act this part, but given that I had already premeditated on it, the acting was successful. My friends noticed that I was depressed, but they could not tell why I was depressed. When our team scored the second goal, I celebrated with my friends, but I exaggerated the celebrations. I celebrated for 30 seconds beyond my friends. At this point, they thought that I was going crazy and all they could do was to stare at me in bewilderment. After the match, I did not even ask my friends to share their thoughts concerning my behavior because they immediately demanded an explanation of my weird behavior and I gave an explanation.
After the game, I bid my friends farewell and continued to act this symptom, but this time in the family set-up. I expressed another symptom of mania by speaking rapidly and louder than normal when conversing with a family member. However, I made sure that I maintained a normal personality and outlook during my one-hour ordeal during dinner. I had chosen to express this symptom during dinner for we share the same table and I was certain that my family members would notice my behavior. My behavior was strange to them for I had never acted that way before.
My mother would occasionally inquire, “Are you okay?” and because I maintained a normal outlook, I would answer in the affirmative. “Why then are you talking that way?” At this point, I would pretend to be unaware of the existence of any strange behavior on my part. My dad also noticed the strange behavior in my speech, but he did not say anything hopefully looking forward to getting an answer to incase I responded to my mum’s questions. My two younger siblings as well noticed the strangeness, but they merely enjoyed it and would occasionally burst into sudden laughter. After the episode, I explained to my mum because I knew that she would understand and explain to the rest of the family members that it was a psychological academic practical.
The experience of acting mania symptoms when with my friends and family taught me that people who know us even when we are not aware of it recognize our behaviors. When we deviate from our normal behaviors, the people around us quickly notice the differences and respond differently about the relationship we have with them. Normal behavior free of DSM disorders is significant in society and plays a major role in how people act. DSM disorder symptoms invoke emotional reactions among individuals close to the person exhibiting the behavior.