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Recent breathless posts have reminded me of a patient I once had who was a
stockbroker. He was also manic depressive. Mania and depression can exist as
separate clinical entities, but he had the classic bipolar syndrome.
When he was in his manic phase, he believed he was Superman. His thinking and
acitivities would be expansive, often progressing to frank delusional
grandiosity, with false convictions of personal wealth, power, inventiveness,
genius. Aggressive irritability to paranoid ideation would manifest if
crossed. With racing thoughts, flight of ideas, and no insight whatsoever, he
would be inexhaustibly, excessively, impulsively involved in acitvities
without a clue as to the dangers involved. A floortrader, if you will, except
he was not on the floor (he was on a ceiling somewhere).
When he was in his depressive phase, he wouldn't show up to work for days,
having crashed into the vegetative phase known as psychomotor retardation. An
eggplant, if you will.
Imagine the consequences of this cyclical state of mind applied to a client's
portfolio, or his own. Not a Mark Douglas poster boy.
Incidently, let me answer in advance the anticipated question at all of your
fingertips: no, his moods were not correlated with bull or bear cycles,
astrological formations or Elvis sitings. I tried, to no avail. If I had, I
would've withheld his lithium. I always wanted to meet the King.
Dave
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