A pretty good case can be made for the manic state being a frantic effort to avoid the depression. It lasts until the subject is completely worn out. (That’s longer that I would think, usually, considering how little sleep they can get and the energy they can pump out.)

Then the depression finally overwhelms them. The worst part of the depression runs it's course as they recover from the mania, and in an effort to avoid the effects of an endogenous (built-in) depression they start to get manic.

In this scenario, the mania and depression are flip sides of the same coin, and it’s not really possible to eliminate one without eliminating the other.

I’ll be watching the psychiatry sites to see what sort of med they pop up with. If they find something it would through that scenario out on it’s ear.

It is a sad situation, truly sad, and at least it's treatable. There are some out there which aren't.

Arf (Spires got it right – Sandy, Little Orphan Annie)