It's all interesting perspectives.

I'm afraid mine is too much influenced by delusions, thoughts following feelings, from a young age. Depression has influenced me very severely. That's probably also why I'm pretty well equipped to not let it influence my thinking too much. It's not by choice, belief me, but it causes me to have rather short periods of severe depression and more mania.

I fear mania so much it makes it almost impossible to do anything. But I've come to appreciate it as well. Also not really by choice: it only makes mania more likely to occur.

I sometimes have avolition, which is an actual (or stronger) belief in everything being pointless, which doesn't happen during depression: if everything is pointless, there is no reason to be depressed.

But depression is so rational it becomes far more delusional than mania will ever be because it's less rational, more intuitive, based on feelings, irrational. It's pure. Not a maze but an open space. But that's a very big picture, but very much about relationships.

It only becomes a (very likely) deluding, damaging and more rational delusion when anxiety sets in. Anxiety, certainly when manic, is just depression waiting to happen. If you don't give in easily or the anxiety makes you fear loss of control, you might get incongruent delusions (and hallucinations), first likely with and then possibly without mania.

Mania before too much anxiety is the truth. Depression just the most damaging of deluding delusions.

The word delusion is of course badly chosen, but what do I know: I'm not a doctor.