I had an experience recently involving a friend of mine that left me both scared and confused. Before I continue, I want to say that this friend is normally very quiet, composed, and kind.

A few weeks ago, I invited him to see a movie with a couple friends and I and he gladly accepted. He met me at the theater later (I bought him a ticket) and I could tell almost immediately that something was wrong. This normally quiet boy was bouncing off the walls. I thought that he was maybe just excited for the movie so I ignored it. About twenty minutes later, we're sitting in the theater and he sees a flyer someone had given me earlier in the day and without even hesitating, he stands up in the theater and starts preaching about the event on the flyer. He sits down very satisfied with himself and starts laughing. By this point, I'm thinking maybe he's drunk.

He went through the movie without saying much of anything. Although, he did start crying during a sad scene which is normal, but not for him. After the movie, he refused to leave and so my friends and I spent almost an hour standing with him. He started rambling about random things and didn't pause once to catch his breath. At this point, my friends and I were beginning to get really worried so I asked him if he was okay to which he got really close to me and started arguing with me.

He then couldn't find the key to his bike lock (he told me he drove) and so one of my friends offered him a ride home which he gladly accepted. I left, but u heard from my friend later that they got about two blocks and he realized his key was in his hand the entire time. He goes to leave and my friends say it's not a good idea and he starts getting all defensive and arguing with them as well. My friends eventually gave up trying to help him and left him there. I happened to still be around and watched him get on his bike and crash into a wall.

The next day and the days that followed, he was still super hyper and excited about the movie and wanted nothing more than to talk about it. This went on for about a week with periods of anger in between where I walked past him and he glared at me and put his hood up.

I have not approached him about the incident because I'm not sure if he even remembers. I don't know any of his medical history, but what occurred was not normal. My friends and I thought maybe he dropped acid or something like that, but he seemed too with it and the side effects should wear off after a couple hours. We also thought maybe a mixture of drugs and alcohol, but we never once smelled alcohol on him and he didn't leave the theater once. He did have a water bottle with him and was acting kind of strange in regard to it, but otherwise there was nothing that would point to any foul play. Our final conclusion was that he stopped taking whatever meds he might be taking. I know from conversations we've had that he takes medication for anxiety, but it never once crossed my mind that he might be something more serious and stopped taking that medication.

I saw a therapist at school and described what happened and she said she believes him to be manic. I didn't know much about mania or bipolar disorder, but the more I researched it, the more it all seemed to make srnse. I'm just curious as to how someone who was so with it and quiet could suddenly have an outburst like that!

My apologies, that got a bit long, buts guess my question is do any of you think this sounds like manic behavior and if so what can I do if it happens again while I'm with him? Thank you!