My name is Kevin and I have a wife and a little girl. The worst manic episode of my life began on October 2 2018. It began with racing thoughts that would not stop. I thought maybe if I went to sleep that it would stop. I tossed and turned all night with no sleep at all. About 4am the next morning I was in a full blown manic episode.
The Manic Episode
I finally got up around 6am. I took our debit card because I had just got paid and i left. I walked out and left my family because my manic episode kicked in my fight or flight symptom and I left. I drove to our next biggest town and bought me another phone so that she couldn’t track me.
From there I drove to the gulf coast so that I wouldn’t be found. I was in an extreme manic episode of my life. I rented a hotel for 5 days and just stayed in the hotel for 5 days doing nothing but drinking and not sleeping. By the end of my 5th day I was watching the news and my wife had put out a missing’s person report out on me. This made me even more paranoid.
By the end of that 5th day I was getting low on money. I had spent over $1,225 dollars so all i knew to do was drive back to the area that I am from and stay in the woods. So that is what I did. I stayed in the woods and drank alcohol.
The Helicopter
I was oblivious to the fact that I was being looked for by law enforcement. After a couple of days in the woods with no sleep I kept hearing a helicopter in the sky. I thought that I was just being paranoid. Well long story short the helicopter did see my truck and alerted the police. I had also forgot that I had some old misdemeanor warrants from years ago.
Going to Jail
So the cops came and found me and took me to jail. By this time I was coming down from the manic episode and going into a depressive episode. Not only did I have to sit in jail going through a manic episode and a depressive episode. I had to stay in jail for 2 months to work my old fines off because my wife refused to pay for the fines so I could get out.
Conclusion
The good part about this story is that I have been sober with no manic episodes since then. If I can do it then so can you. Take your medications. It will improve the quality of your life and of the lives around you. Find a medicine regiment that works for you and just take it one day at a time. You too can be free from the bondage of mental illness and addiction.
Check Out This Article Below Called “What is Mania”