The dvar model seems to track with buddhist insight stages that have been around for millennia, as well as subjective-reporting diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder which have been around for a few decades but are good for the balance sheet.
Most western (and Japanese) psychiatrists have no idea about these insight stages so might misdiagnose someone trapped in a dark night phase as being bipolar depressed, or someone experiencing Arising & Passing as being manic. I'm not a doctor, but most doctors aren't meditators, so... your call.
Here is how I believe they track. I am no doctor. But the doctors nearly killed me and buddhist practices changed my world so… I think a bit of meditation might be the safer option for many. You do you, though.
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High tda + high dvar
Arising & Passing
Mania
High energy, creativity, awe, reduced need for sleep (in some), fast thoughts, clarity, confidence, feeling like you’re enlightened (especially the first time you encounter it). You need to build the neuronal capacity to handle this state properly; hence the meditation.
Low tda + low dvar
Dissolution
Depression
Anhedonia, lack of focus, existential woes, feeling like its all worthless and meaningless, anxiety, low energy levels, more need for sleep. A good chance to observe impermanence of feeling.
Low tda + high dvar
Dark Night
Mixed Episode
Fear, misery, disgust, an overwhelming desire for deliverance (sometime suicide risk). This part precedes any awakening you may encounter, but the only way out is through. It will pass, and the night is darkest before the dawn. If it gets too bad, this is when you might want to see a doctor.
High tda + low dvar
Equanimity
Nibbana
Peace, acceptance, wellbeing.
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The cycle then repeats, with the AP phase coming after the EQ phase. I think AP is where the lessons of the previous cycle are compiled and installed, through phasic dopamine. This is the reason for the clarity and creativity: your ideas all make sense. This is why I am writing so many pages today. This is also why I was so overwhelmed with phasic bursts and weeks of clarity after encountering nibbana.
Nothing is static, and this is what the buddha realised and taught. As you become more intuitively aware of how transient these states are, they stop bothering you. Because you stop identifying these states as ‘you’ or ‘yours’, they begin to pass faster. Your dopamine latch has switched over to seeing through the impermanence, rather than ‘holding on to’ or ‘trying to push away’ the state you are in. They just begin to flow, and your motivation turns to understanding how they flow and letting them pass.
The wheel of life will always wobble. There will always be dukkha. But it doesn’t need to bother you.
Just don’t medicate yourself into an elongated dark night with alcohol or valproate.
/jb202509031808
Go to a doctor if things get too bad, but I had more success with self-medication than pharmaceuticals. Weed, not booze.