I had a friend with these mania issues. I am mostly just depressed or borderline "ok" then back being down again. He however would swing wildly up and be basically jumping off the walls and looked insane to me. But as the years grew on he got married and lived a few blocks from the rec center. When the mania kicked in he would go swimming, walk the track, play racket ball and man o' man did that seem to be a good thing both physically and mentally for him. With proper meds as well he is a whole different person. It's been awhile but last time we saw each other he was holding the same management job for over 5 years and was on his second child! Oh yeah and the down days, that's how we met. He would just sit in the coffee shop with his laptop, books and notebooks trying to discover something of interest and looking for a better job.