How can you tell a normal interest from a manic one?

I'm not sure if this is just the mania talking, but I've gotten a sudden interest in pagan/tarot stuff. Once I have some cash I'm gonna get a deck and start messing around. It's really interesting and I feel some sort of connection to it I can't quite explain.

I'm also aware that this could be a manic thing, but I'm not sure. I'm normally a very rational pseudo mumbo jumbo rejecting person but for some reason this topic seems very enticing right now. Like I said, special connection.

Even if it's fueled by mania, reading tarot cards is a really cool thing to do, so i would pursue it. It'll make you an even more interesting person. I know what you mean about manic-only interests. One time i got very into religion and went to church four times in one week. Once the mania passed, so did the church-going. But i enjoyed myself and made memories to treasure when i'm depressed so i have no regrets.

For me mania = excess.
For example I’ve just watched a Vietnamese cooking program. I’m not manic. I’ll google the recipe when I’m ready to cook it. If I was manic I’d be trying to figure out how to access money to buy a plane ticket so that I could go to Vietnam for cooking lessons.

not a manic but I found an interest on line that saved me from the blackness of depression ... at least the su ... I am still 3 years later using this cruch ...

Haha! That's so true, Pookyl, and very apt!

This is one of the funniest post's I have seen in a long time. I think I find it so funny because it describes me to a tee.

It sounds hypomanic, not manic. You have insight and maintain a critical view of the situation.

How bad can it be? Meaning - how much does a deck of cards cost?

I've had a lot of mannic interests that became regular ones

for example: pirates. I never really liked them, that is until last year whhen I was mannic, dressed up as a pirate, had a parot on my shoulder and insisted people called me davy jones (the parot was actually a teddybear). I went on to order a pirate costume from amazon (including fake sword)

after the episode, I still liked them and still had an interest in them (of course not as much, I actually destroyed the costume and through away the sword), but I do still like pirates.

currently my interest is roosters, and I've just spent money on a mug with a picture of a rooster on it. I'm not mannic at them oment, though the thought of moving to a farm (just so I can hear the rooster in the morning) is very apealing.

Sometimes when I am manic I get EXTREMELY hyperfocused on something interesting and almost obsess over it while I learn about it. Once the mania is over its not as important to me. This could be anything from a youtuber who demonstrates makeup(then I end up wanting to buy everything they recommend) to reading about an obscure cult on wiki and clicking link after link on their page. Plus I have adhd so its even more ridiculous. I swear youtube and wiki were meant for people like me.. kiss of death is when the youtube 'suggested' video links pop up or when wiki has that whole section "for more info click_____"

It sounds like an healthy interest to me, 251turnaround. How much money do you usually spend for it? If it's not too much and you keep it in check, I don't think you should worry about it too much. Even if you lose interest in it after a while, it's still a new experience you've made. If you're concerned about it, though, I'd suggest to talk to your doctor about this and see how it goes from there. But like I said, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Feel free to PM me anytime. Wish you good luck! Let us know how it goes. Sending many hugs to you

Do you have any other hypomanic symptoms? I agree with the others. An interest in Tarot/pagan stuff will most likely be no harm and may educate you. However, if you begin taking the readings to have deep, significant, universal meaning then you are on your way to mania considering you're usually a rational person who isn't into these kind of things.