surviving a manic episode

Unfortunately, I have experienced many hypomanic episodes that I did not recognize. Recently, however, I have survived two manic episodes, including delusional thinking. The biggest challenge seems to be in recognizing the symptoms of mania. I have had enough experience with my delusions that I recognized that my thinking was off track. A second positive factor is having a support network that you trust. I trusted my wife and my friend enough that I told them I was having an episode. My wife reminded me that sleep management is important to my stability. I contracted with her to stay off my computer(especially games and the internet!) and to read instead, We have also practiced meditative skills together and I agreed to go to the living room and listen to relaxing music while practicing deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and affirmations. It took about 3 days to get out of the woods the first time and about 24 hours the second time. Also, it helped to do some "normal" activities like walk around the block with my dog. watch movies, read, go shopping, read e-mail, etc. While I enjoyed my "'inspired" thoughts, I was also aware of the consequences of former manic episodes and was thus motivated to continue to challenge the delusional thoughts. I kept reminding myself of the "real" positives in my life. including my family, my career, my friends, my men's group, etc. This decreased my attraction to the promised benefits of my false reality. I hope that some others can use this information to survive manic episodes, Tim Kuss, 2-4-10