https://scriptshrink.tumblr.com/post/161331537856/manic-episode-demystifying-the-dsm-5
Man, it’s been a while since I made one of these posts! I’ve changed the structure of these criteria a bit from the DSM-5, but it’s all there.
There needs to be a distinct period of time where the character experiences at least one of the following moods most of the day, nearly every day, for at least a week:
Elevated - the character feels euphoric or excessively happy
Expansive - there’s a lot of definitions for this. It can be shown through the character overly expresses their feelings, to the point that they disregard the reactions of others. The character may feel that they’re more important or significant than they actually are, seeming grandiose or superior to others.
Irritable - the character is easily angered
The character also needs to be consistently energetic OR increase their level of goal-directed activity most of the day, nearly every day, for at least a week. Goal-directed activity means that the character frequently takes on ambitious new projects without necessarily thinking it through or completing previous projects first.
While the character is in this state, they have to show at least three of the following symptoms (4 if their mood is irritable), which have to be a significant change in behavior from how the character usually acts:
Inflated self esteem or grandiosity (see expansive mood above).
The character has much less of a need for sleep.
The character is more talkative than usual, and feels a pressure to keep talking.
Flight of ideas or racing thoughts (Will be the topic of a future post).
The character is easily distracted.
The character either has an increase in goal directed activity (see above) OR psychomotor agitation (see link here) .
The character becomes excessively involved in things that have a high risk of painful consequences (such as reckless driving, maxing out credit cards on shopping sprees, foolish business investments).
These symptoms have to be one or more of the following:
Require the character to be hospitalized to prevent them harming themselves or others.
Note - if a character has to be hospitalized, you can ignore the requirement for the symptoms to last at least a week.
Cause the character to become psychotic (ie lose touch with reality)
These symptoms cannot be the result of a drug (such as meth) or a medical condition.