The relationship between genius, artistic creativity, and mania has been studied at length, and it’s a deep vein. But to say that mania is a state of pure creativity is an oversimplification; rather like saying an erupting volcano is a good source of energy. There is truth to the statement, but who among us can control a volcano? When I was writing Invisible Driving, my memoir of manic depression (http://www.invisibledriving.com) (Amazon.com) I had to reconstruct my manic episodes with great care. In doing so, two things became obvious. The first was that my creative energies were at their highest, I existed in a state of constant, unfettered creativity. The other was that creativity was far beyond my grasp, it was controlling me, in a sense, my new persona was the greatest single product of my uncontrolled creativity – I was a fabulous fiction. In hindsight I understood that, while the sensation of unbridled creativity was seductive, it could never qualify as art, since art is the result of a careful balance between creativity and control. In mania, there was no control.

Of all the intangibles inherent in mania, the one I knew would be most challenging to convey was the sense of slipping into an alternate reality, a parallel universe. My city was the same; I looked the same, but absolutely everything was essentially changed. This was a world with different rules, entirely different emotions, and a foreign approach to life itself. I chewed through experience like a hungry dog. If ever there were a case of “perception being reality,” this was it. The following is excerpted from the chapter of Invisible Driving called “Steps.” Invisible Driving by Alistair McHarg is available from Amazon.com. http//www.invisibledriving.com)

Writing a memoir, if you do it properly, is not a simple catalog of events. When I began Invisible Driving, my memoir of manic depression - http://www.invisibledriving.com - I knew it would be like following a piece of string that led inevitably into the darkest regions of my soul. Recreating mania through language was a technical challenge, but getting on a first-name basis with the demons that sparked my mad behavior was an emotional challenge. In my daily life I was reserved; in mania I was a runaway chain saw. I thought of myself as endlessly charming and funny, I was in fact boiling with furious rage. People in the full throes of mania are capable of tremendous, irrational violence. - A word to the wise. Don’t step on Superman’s cape, don’t spit into the wind, and don’t f*uck with a guy who’s manic. This chapter is called, “The Righteous Rage That Drives Men Into Battle.”