I find that the symptoms of mania very hard for me to detect. It's not hard to know when your facing depression the whole world become a difficult place but when I'm manic I have an inflated self perception and I actually welcome the mania because I believed the depression has finally passed allowing me to think there really isn't anything wrong with me.

Unfortunately, when manic I become intolerable to the rest of the world causing me loss of employment, relationships and friends.