The urge to aggressively clean your home after catching dust bunnies in action isn’t an unusual feeling, especially when springtime rolls around or guests are coming over.
Some people on TikTok, however, are slapping serious labels onto a relatively ordinary behavior, calling these random bursts of motivation to tidy up — “manic cleaning.” They record themselves frantically cleaning cluttered closets and scrubbing dirty dishes, while people in the comments agree that they too experience this “mania.”
Although intense cleaning spells are common behaviors among people experiencing mania, experts say that they last much longer than a couple of hours, aren’t done out of boredom and can be followed by a severe depression that can last weeks to months, unlike what’s discussed online.
Now, people who actually experience mania are speaking up. They want people to understand that tossing psychiatric diagnoses around with little regard for those who have them diminishes real manic experiences to a trendy quirk.
“It is absolutely insensitive and invalidating to see mental health language being used as a cute little adjective or referring to something completely normal,” said Hanno Ortiz, a 25-year-old from Kansas. Ortiz is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder bipolar type, meaning she experiences both manic and depressive episodes, as well as delusions and hallucinations.
“Unfortunately, serious symptoms of mental illness have become trendy and have lost their meaning," Ortiz said, "so people who suffer from mania are being spoken over by people who act on pretty normal impulsive behavior.”
“Manic cleaning” videos, she added, contribute to misinformation about mania as people associate it with ordinary behaviors and ignore other, more debilitating symptoms.
Mania is a period of extreme energy, inflated self-esteem, impulsiveness, racing thoughts, distractibility and intense happiness or irritability, according to David Miklowitz, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
A person experiencing a manic episode might deep clean their apartment at midnight on two hours of sleep or spam former classmates with messages asking to meet after years of no contact. Family conflict, a job layoff or even something positive like winning the lottery could trigger a manic episode.
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Mania is mostly associated with bipolar disorder, which is characterized by manic episodes that persist for a week or more and are either followed or preceded by “depressive episodes” of sadness and hopelessness that can last several weeks to months, the National Institute of Mental Health says. Bipolar disorder is a lifelong illness, so manic and depressive episodes come and go over time. (Manic episodes can be a part of other conditions too, such as seasonal affective disorder and postpartum psychosis.)
But just because you feel a strong urge to clean your home for hours on end, maybe lose motivation to finish or feel exhausted when you’re done, doesn’t mean you’re having a manic episode.
“There’s the assumption that being in a high state of frenetic activity means you're bipolar,” said Miklowitz, who wrote "The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide." “It’s like when someone thinks they have ADHD because they have trouble focusing.”
“But people don’t realize the other part of the disorder, which is when you fall into a severe depression,” he said. “We're not talking about just getting tired of cleaning. We're talking about having trouble getting out of bed, not being able to sleep even though you want to, losing appetite or feeling suicidal.”
Random bursts of motivation to clean are considered manic only if they are unusual, noticeable, occur everyday for a week or more, and affect a person’s daily life, such as their ability to work or care for their children, Miklowitz said. They must also be accompanied with other symptoms, like feeling euphoric or extra talkative.
“True episodes of mania are very painful and disruptive. It’s not fun, and people can end up arrested or in the hospital,” Miklowitz said. “I know that people online are just joking around, but taking a label like mania and applying it to an everyday behavior can diminish what it's like to really have bipolar disorder.”
Some people, particularly those with bipolar II disorder, experience less severe episodes called hypomania, the NIMH says. They feel and look the same but aren’t as impairing to someone’s life.
José Menchón, a psychiatrist and director of Centre Medic BM in Barcelona, Spain, said that those who have frequent cleaning sprees may exhibit obsessive compulsive symptoms instead, which include intense urges to be orderly.
The first question to ask yourself is: Do my cleaning sprees interfere with my job, relationships or physical or mental health? Next, consider whether you have other manic symptoms, such as no desire to sleep and high energy that’s out of character for you.
If you are experiencing about three manic and/or depressive symptoms, Miklowitz suggests seeking a mental health evaluation so you can receive proper treatment if necessary, which may involve a mix of medication and talk therapy. This advice is especially helpful if you have a family history of bipolar disorder or OCD, as they can both be passed down generations.
“With any psychiatric disorder, you don't want to just take one behavior and say that's what I have because I do it,” Miklowitz said. “All illnesses are associated with normal behaviors to an extent.”
And be mindful of the language you use to describe mental health. Avoid phrases like "schizo," "delulu" and "I'm so ADHD," experts say.
"They oversimplify, and in many cases are inaccurate reflections of, the experience of these types of problems," Sarah Victor, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Texas Tech University, previously told USA TODAY. "Many people already feel ashamed about living with mental illness or other problems, and these terms can exacerbate that."
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