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Manic temporality.

Wayne Martin, Tania Gergel, Gareth S Owen

Philosophical Psychology 2019 DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2018.1502873 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative interview study with theoretical reconstruction Peer reviewed
Population Persons with a history of bipolar disorder and a current diagnosis of acute mania
Topics Philosophy of mind
Keywords Bipolar Edmund husserl Eugène minkowski Ludwig binswanger Protention Time-consciousness
Key findings The authors argue that a disturbance in the formal structure of temporal experience is a core feature of mania, supporting a central hypothesis from Minkowski and Binswanger. They propose that a refined variant of Binswanger's model of disturbed manic protention helps explain the impaired insight and impaired reasoning characteristic of manic episodes.

Abstract

Time-consciousness has long been a focus of research in phenomenology and phenomenological psychology. We advance and extend this tradition of research by focusing on the character of temporal experience under conditions of mania. Symptom scales and diagnostic criteria for mania are peppered with temporally inflected language: increased rate of speech, racing thoughts, flight-of-ideas, hyperactivity. But what is the underlying structure of temporal experience in manic episodes? We tackle this question using a strategically hybrid approach. We recover and reconstruct three hypotheses regarding manic temporality that were advanced and modeled by two pioneers of clinical phenomenology: Eugène Minkowski (1885-1972) and Ludwig Binswanger (1881-1966). We then test, critique, and refine these hypotheses using heterophenomenological methods in an interview-based study of persons with a history of bipolar and a current diagnosis of acute mania. Our conclusions support a central hypothesis due to Minkowski and Binswanger, namely, that disturbance in the formal structure of temporal experience is a core feature of mania. We argue that a suitably refined variant of Binswanger's model of disturbance in manic protention helps to explain a striking pattern of impaired insight and impaired reasoning in manic episodes.

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