Thank you very much for your concern. I am sorry for your having to deal with mania, I never had (I think so?) one so I do not know how it feels, but it must be dreadful and horrible.

Actually, your answer was what I needed: not a happy-go-lucky (never used the term before haha) answer, but one based on experience and rationality.

It's just a guess, but may our mechanisms have something to do with what Eric Berne called "the games people play"? Btw, it's the kind of therapy that I do, Transactional Analysis.

Maybe it helps? I dunno (but it is interesting anyway).