Mania as an unique life event.

Despite substantial evidence of relationship between life events and psychiatric illness in general and mood disorder in specific, none of the research has documented 'mania' itself as a life event in the onset of mania in a family member who is genetically vulnerable to the disorder. We describe three such cases that had strong temporal association between manic episode in the family member and subsequent manic episodes among the first-degree relatives. Mania as a life event might play a significant role as a precipitator towards the onset of mood disorder with a special impact on those who have vulnerability towards the disorder; the cases are discussed from both psychological and biological perspective.