This is the one...

...the one that’s going to keep me up all night.

YouTube

Sloop John B ~Beach Boys

I can’t. I can’t stop.

Ohhh, yeah. I've been stuck on the BB's "Good Vibrations" some nights. But then, both you and I have the music mania thing. When I'm full-on manic I can lie in my bed at night and listen to an entire album, note for note, in my head.

Are you listening to beach music because you're needing to be on the beach? That's when I get mashed up with the Beach Boys. I look at SoCal beach photos on google maps and well, yeah...

Can you break the stuck on one song cycle by listening to an entirely different genre of music? Or maybe a similar genre of music, but a different song? Or will your mind just flip back to "that" song?

Yes, I do the same thing! I thought it was some weird obsession I have (and maybe it is still a weird obsession the WE have &#128540. I hadn’t thought that I am listening to The Beach Boys because I need to be on the beach but it certainly makes a lot of sense. I can easily switch to a new song, but only one by a handful of artists and even then only handful of songs by those artists. Occasionally, I’ll have a mania that is music centric, then I will hop from one song, to another song, to another song, and so on until it becomes insane. Music just literally takes over my brain. That’s when I usually write the best though so I can’t complain too much. It’s cool to have someone understand!

Oh wow, I sure do understand! Actually, the music mania is what brought me into a pdoc many years ago.

I had the same thing going. My mother did too. I've thought a lot about why this might happen. My theory is that music activates both hemispheres of the brain. It appeals to our intuitive and artistic side and it also appeals to our analytical side. It engages our emotional center and our memories. It connects with the web of data stored in our subconscious and brings it forward as we connect it to random and various experiences thus leading to what we call 'amazing ideas' or 'insights' while manic. Additionally, it engages us holistically. Music is spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. It hits us on all levels.

Most importantly, music resonates. It has frequency. We are electrochemical beings and we constantly pulse out waves of energy. When we listen to a song or certain type of song over and over we entrain with the frequency as the neurons in our brains fire and the chemicals pulse. Essentially, I think we like it when manic because it lights up our brain, feels good physically as it activates everything, and it keeps us in sync with the energy we are emitting in lower levels already without it. The Beach Boys nailed it. Good vibrations.

Except... In the case of mania, it is actually not so great. The brain cannot sustain the level of activity and the waves of entrainment start to reach a level of frequency and amplitude that is not sustainable. So while music may feel incredible while manic, it would be wise to limit it or move to something with a lower frequency.

Here is a little bit of physics meshed with neuroscience to explain. When our neurons fire in the brain they send out waves of energy. As we listen to notes in music, our brain responds. We also have a chemical response that sends out waves of energy. The faster the music, the greater the frequency of the waves. Imagine ocean waves that are really close together.

Now imagine that we are already in a super high energy state. The greater the energy that is put into a wave, the greater the amplitude or height of the wave.

Also, as waves collide with other waves, energy is displaced and added to the amplitude of the wave. This is especially true when we find a 'perfect song' that is a match for the frequency of the waves we already have going.

When we are manic, our minds are already on fire and processing tons of things pulsing out waves. You then turn music on that is high frequency and resonant with your brain pattern and you start vibing with it and dancing along and even singing and then BAM. You have behemoth super waves pulsing all throughout your body giving you the feeling of being electric or tingly or whatever.

Eventually though, it is just too much and it overloads your system. The frequency and amplitude go higher and higher and you basically fry your circuits in your brain. This is what I believe causes the crash. Music just speeds up the process. Also, when all of this is happening AND you're taking meds to try to chemically reverse this process, your body and brain are working a ton harder to fight the effect of the meds. You're taxing your mind and body even more like an addict who needs more and more drugs to get high.

Anyway, this is my take on what happens. I'm a science lover who experienced this first hand and wanted to imagine what happened in my body and understand why music was so impactful.

Cashart... For your own good, please lay off the music. Your brain and your body feel great, but you can be doing damage. You are very out of balance and need to shift back and let your body recover.

Fern, that is a fascinating hypothesis. I think you've described a cycle that feeds off of itself repetitively as it amps up higher and higher. Makes sense!

The challenging part is to let go of the attraction while in a manic episode, because mania tells us to do almost anything to go higher and expand to a wider and more intense state of being.

Well said. That is the tricky part. I didn't know what I was doing because it was my only episode so far, but I used it to go higher and to be more expansive like you said. Hopefully I catch the pattern before it spirals if there is a next time.

For me, things are easier when I can break them down and make sense of them holistically. Before I looked into any of this I just thought.... 'Wow this music is amazeballs and these artists are so right on. Let's play these songs over and over' and now if my brain starts doing weird stuff with music or it feels a little too good I think 'oh I better get off this wave before I crash' and I shut the music down for a while. My husband knows to unplug the speakers and take my headphones if I start repeating songs, overanalyzing the meaning of them and dancing everywhere I go

I have songs playing in my head all the time though... That part I struggle to stop, but I can change the song if I force it. Do you have an internal radio too?

TBH hard to concentrate. Right now listening to Bozz Scaggs. "Low Down" . Previous recording :"I love music" O'jays. First song "Whatcha See is what you get." In a groovy hypomanic mood. Grew up with music. I know that's not unusual. However I really did grow up with music. My dad was a professional guitarist. He played jazz and rock.

Definitely. I love that term "internal radio." That's exactly what it sounds like. If I'm escalating into mania there can be 2 or 3 songs playing at once. In fact, I have gone to youtube and played several music videos at the same time, loudly. Hearing all that music at the same time felt validating, because it reflected what was in my mind.

Medication certainly helps quiet the music and sounds down; they are softer and less frequent. I can't say they're entirely gone, though. Especially if I'm stressed the music/sounds will flare up. Sometimes I have to take something prn to calm the system.

What fun that your dad was a musician! Just a random question...did he ever show signs of having bipolar disorder?

How are you doing today Cashart?

I'm wondering how you're doing, too

I overlooked many cool responses to this thread. That is a very interesting interpretation Fern.