I am very interested in the problem of manic spending as well. I read about one woman who bought 16 chainsaws in a manic ep!

I haven't done anything THAT silly but i have overspent. Once i bought a car [i hate driving]. Luckily it was a lease and i was able to return it [with a penalty]. Another time i wanted to buy a better condo and got pre-approved for the mortgage before i came to my senses.

Many times i have bought clothes and jewelry. I tend to have bold taste in design when manic so i end up with a lot of things that yell look-at-me which i dislike when i'm depressed and want to fade into the woodwork.

Like i got glasses during my Spring mania and i chose this fancy cats-eye-with-sparkles design which i don't care for now that i have come back down to earth.

Manic spending is actually the main reason i am here as i recently went thru a renovation mania where i planned to spend tens of thousands of dollars. Only the fact that the financing was delayed saved me as i had come back down to earth once it came thru.

I am asking people here to caution me if i go thru it again and asking my support groups to as well. I thought of ruining my credit rating so i don't qualify for borrowing but that's not realistic because what if i have a genuine emergency? I have a dog and she was sick in the hospital over Easter and i needed Old Mr. Credit Card then.

I thought of getting a trustee but a lot of people say that's a whole other can of worms.

One member here suggested an interesting idea: she keeps her credit card in a safe deposit box so access is inconvenient. I decided against that as i want mine for emergencies, but it's a neat suggestion.

In the end, i am hoping to get better meds to prevent another mania. I see my psychiatrist in a week and all my hopes are pinned on her.