Manic episode was 'complete chaos' for Lethbridge man who hopes his story helps those suffering
CBC
For Lethbridge, Alta., resident Jason Wegner, you can trace it all back to the summer of 2017.
He had been exhibiting some signs of hypomania in the year prior: risky behaviour, unusual shifts in mood and rapid changes in his behaviour.
Wegner's family has some history of mental illness, including an uncle with bipolar disorder.
So when Wegner experimented for the second time with psychedelic drugs in 2017, specifically magic mushrooms and LSD, it changed everything.
That summer, Wegner travelled to Africa as a leader on a service trip with the WE Charity to help build a school. He found himself in a full-blown manic episode for 16 days.
For Wegner, having a manic episode meant he was thinking 100 thoughts every day, all the time.
"It's complete chaos," he said. "You can't control your emotions. You're happy one moment, crying the next."
Wegner was told multiple times to stop rambling. But he couldn't control what was running through his head.
"I had many far-fetched ideas, like running Pink Floyd concerts in Tanzania, Africa, writing a novel, getting a PhD and several other corporations and charities I was going to run all within the next 10 years," he said.
On the trip, Wegner couldn't control his emotions and was very antagonistic with those around him.
During that period, he constantly journalled his experience, writing more than 300 pages of notes in 16 days and recording more than two hours of audio journals.
When he returned from Africa, Wegner immediately moved out of his parents' house. He had been living there while saving for a down payment.
Shortly after, Wegner was fired from both of his jobs at the campus bar at the University of Lethbridge and as a caterer. In the first instance, he almost punched a groom on his wedding night after an altercation about tips.
Within a week of coming home, he also spent thousands of dollars on technology, including $3,000 on a stereo from Denmark. He had to go to Sweet Grass, Mont., to pick it up, where he said he promptly got into arguments with locals about politics and education.
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