This element in "Next to Normal" illustrates and defines the characters' feelings and is an expression of their subtext, their inner life, their desires, passions and fears. This is the name given to the mental illness in which the sufferer swings unpredictably between deep, debilitating depression and intense hyperactivity. Early in the narrative a doctor experiments with these treatments in an effort to determine which combination will help Diana navigate her illness. At the beginning of the musical, the protagonist, who is on the hyperactive side of the bipolar swing, makes stacks of these objects. This location is the setting for several important scenes, and is, for Diana, at different times either a refuge or a trigger for her suffering. Dr. Madden's OfficeSeveral times over the course of the narrative, Diana visits her psychiatric therapist in this location... This section contains 230 words(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)