A historical construction of the phenomenon of mania in the field of psychopathology

This study aims to shed light on the construction of the concept of mania in the field of psychopathology. The article addresses the historical evolution of mania, from manic-depressive illness to the diagnosis of bipolar and schizoaffective disorders. It was observed that the current concept of mania is a product of the second half of the 19th century, although it originates from the classical Greek period, when it was understood as a way of being, and then, throughout history, was reduced to a psychopathological symptom. Currently, mania is again being considered in a broader sense, as manic functioning, but without excluding its symptomatic condition. It is from this position that we situate it as a phenomenon, encompassing the symptom and the lived experience, from the perspective constructed from phenomenological psychopathology, which looks at the manic experience not by reducing it to a natural fact, but by understanding it as a historical-cultural phenomenon, constructed in the world of human relationships.