Bipolar Disorder: Why It Happens — A Defensive Psychosis in the Method’s View

This brochure looks not at symptoms but at the very mechanics of bipolar affective disorder: why it arises in the first place from the standpoint of how the brain works. It is not simply an “elevated mood” — it is a particular state the brain switches on as a defense, in which critical judgment stops functioning.

Not an “elevated mood,” but a psychosis

A common misconception is to see mania as a pleasant, cheerful high. The doctor insists: this is not mood, it is psychomotor tension, it is psychosis. Thoughts race so fast, they jump so much, that the affective component completely overrides the work of the cortex.

“No, no, this is not elevated mood, this is psychomotor tension, this is psychosis.”

“These thoughts move so fast, they jump so much… that the cortex is completely absent.”

Why critical judgment shuts off

To explain the mechanics, the doctor turns to brain development. An infant has no formed cortex yet, no gray matter — and no capacity for criticism. As development proceeds, the ability appears to not react immediately to a stimulus, but to process it.

A stimulus first goes to the limbic system, to the amygdala — and then a decision has to be made about where to send it. If the brain’s inhibitory system, especially the cortex, does not switch on its influence, then the stimulus comes in and a reaction follows immediately, indiscriminately. A child has “nothing to sort the stimulus with.” In an adult’s psychosis the same thing happens: criticism switches off, reactions become automatic.

Bipolar disorder as a defensive psychosis

The method interprets bipolar disorder as a defensive reactive state of the brain. The brain switches on a defense, and the person ends up completely without critical judgment — it happens automatically.

“Bipolar disorder is a psychosis, a defensive psychosis… its affect just shifts.”

Its hallmark is the two phases of the psychosis. The doctor uses an image: psychosis is like a dream — you can have two kinds of dreams, one where you run and rush around, and another where you cannot move at all. It is the same here: in one phase a person cannot stop racing; in the other — the depressive pole. The state is imposed: it forces movement, running, making decisions, opening “30 companies” — and it is utterly uncontrolled.

In severe manic psychoses, voices may also appear. The doctor recalls a wealthy man who, in a manic psychosis, drove off to a rural road, undressed, smeared himself in mud, and went off to preach — until people called an ambulance. This shows how far the state slips out from under critical judgment.

Why it requires a professional approach

Since this is a psychosis with shifting affect, treatment requires precisely professional management. There is a whole tactic: how to “hold” the affect and which medications to give in which phases. The doctor stresses that such consultations are heavy — lasting 2–3 hours — and first one must teach the person how to handle the medications.

“They don’t understand the essence of bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a psychosis, a defensive psychosis.”

Practice: how to hold the understanding (orientation, not treatment)

1. Stop calling the “up” phase a “good mood” — mentally label it as psychomotor tension, a state in which criticism is switched off.
2. Notice the sign of absent critical judgment: the reaction follows the stimulus instantly, with no pause to process.
3. Recognize that the state is imposed — the person “cannot stop racing”; it is not a choice or a whim.
4. Keep both phases in mind — the up phase and the depressive pole — as one process, not two different “moods.”
5. With such a state, seek professional help: this calls for a management tactic, not solo decisions.