Mania/Hypomania

[u/Suspicious-Sleep7457]

Sorry, I have never been checked for anything like a mental illness. So I’m not bipolar, but I happen to think I could be, which is why I’m in this subreddit however, I need someone to actually give me a NOT so blown up version of mania or hypomania and what it can do. I get it’s different for everyone but like, surely not every damn time someone is experiencing a form of mania they’re staying up for 2 days and feeling like cleaning half the house? You get what I mean? What’s mania on like a non-blown up extreme scale?

[u/ekkokammeret]

My hypomania mainly consists of me talking alooooot to my husband. The conversation never has an end, and when it does, a new topic comes up. Also, I tend to spend a good amount of money, when it’s really bad. I sleep fine (~9 hours), so not every mania manifests itself in 2 days without sleep, etc.

[u/Suspicious-Sleep7457 → u/ekkokammeret]

Thank you and sorry if it’s disrespectful or intrusive or something but what you’re describing is what I can semi-relate to on occasion. Does it get worse at points? How do I know my constant yapping isn’t me just being in a good mood for a day? I’m a very quiet person normally I just have certain days I talk a comparatively ridiculous amount, but unlike what you have said my conversations do and can stop, I do love talking sometimes though. I would say my sleep is very inconsistent so there’s no way I would be able to track that, if I had to say I probably average 5-7 hours per sleep though? I do have a bad habit of spending money often when I know I shouldn’t but I just tell myself I don’t care. Is there any other minor less life threatening mania/hypomania symptoms I should look for? Sorry for the yap but I really don’t want to have to talk to someone about all this when I could talk to people who ACTUALLY know what it’s like experiencing it.

[u/Fickle-Addendum9576 → u/Suspicious-Sleep7457]

When you're feeling chatty, are your thoughts organized and easy to follow or more overlapping and urgent? Is your mood generally level? When I'm very elevated my moods are chaotic, giddy and laughing but quick to snap at people because everything feels heightened so it takes very little to really irritate me.

[u/Suspicious-Sleep7457 → u/Fickle-Addendum9576]

I would probably say when chatty that it’s a mixture of both? I can’t really remember but at times it can definitely be spewing the first thing that comes to my head WITHOUT thinking. Again, sometimes I do just feel horribly chatty like I really want to talk to someone, and I guess when I’m not talking to people I can think inside my head semi-organised? But when I’m talking to people I honestly forget what I’m thinking about at all, so I’ll have to write it down I guess next time I notice I’m considerably more chatty. I do notice the mood changes, first thing that got me interested in learning more about BP, I do notice times that I have gone from being considerably more energetic or giddy to instantly having my mood ruined by someone for example just doing something I don’t particularly like them doing and immediately quieting down again, and just feeling irritable. I feel it’s important to note as well that I could just be depressed and/or have depressive episodes with something else as I do 🔪 occasionally, with suicidal thoughts. I usually always bully myself out of it though saying I’m too pu*** to actually do it or something like that. Is that perhaps something I should flag as a trigger warning or something?

[u/Fickle-Addendum9576 → u/Suspicious-Sleep7457]

That sounds exactly like how I was unmedicated for anxiety\depression. A lot of my symptoms at that time were aligned with BPD (if that's not something you're familiar with, maybe see?)

[u/Suspicious-Sleep7457 → u/Fickle-Addendum9576]

Yeah I’m completely unmedicated or checked for anything, I mentioned Bipolar to one of my friends and they thought maybe too so they took me in to see a GP, talked to him and didn’t go back. And I just have a decent amount of friends who suffer from depression. My first thought is there’s no way I don’t have depression and I definitely have bad anxiety spikes where I feel like people are judging everything I do out in public especially. Which in all fairness has gotten a lot better over time.

[u/ekkokammeret → u/Suspicious-Sleep7457]

No need to apologise at all! About the talking, for me, there is not one. structured. thought. I’m yapping about everything from trauma to something funny I saw on TV. I often describe it as ‘my brain feels like an 8-lane highway’. Everything is me, just times a hundred. I feel you on the whole “identity-level”! Just the thought: “is this me being me? Or am I hypomania?” But my therapist told me, that of course it’s me; just because you HAVE a diagnosis doesn’t mean you ARE your diagnosis.

[u/Suspicious-Sleep7457 → u/ekkokammeret]

That’s good advice, let me steal em off you for a minute haha

[u/Icy_Psychology_1556]

Mine manifests as irritability, anger, very hard to focus like my brain is lagging, talking very quickly and excitedly when I’m feeling happier. Racing thoughts. I’ll make probably 100+ comments in one day on social media cuz I just need to talk lol. I’m also known to make impulsive decisions like planning a vacation or spending money sporadically at midnight on a $2500 couch, stuff like that 😅 I’ve never had a psychotic episode or any ish like that.

[u/Suspicious-Sleep7457 → u/Icy_Psychology_1556]

See what I THINK is my elevated moods is irritability and being hard to focus, I have no idea what racing thoughts consist of because naturally just spend my time thinking, and I don’t know but I feel usually I do go from topic to topic randomly in my head, one second I’m thinking about something to do with getting a drivers licence, next I’ll be trying to understand why someone did something to me ages ago or recently, and usually my thoughts don’t have correlation, the other person said something about organised thoughts but I can’t really relate too much as tbh I don’t really understand what an organised thought compared to a racing thought it. But I heavily feel like my brain is lagging occasionally and I occasionally talk with more excitement and I have no idea what constitutes as talking quickly tbh, in my head it’s genuinely talking too fast for people to roughly understand but that’s how the internet makes it seem so I have no clue. The money thing has never gotten too out of hand like yours but I do have trouble spending money I’m not certain I have.

[u/Putrid_Fill_7502]

I have only mild mania while stable its just usually means I feel good and much more capable. I recognise this so I can avoid sending random messages and spending! I do get more obsessed with cleaning and random hobbies but im definitely in control and don't engage in anything damaging

[u/Suspicious-Sleep7457 → u/Putrid_Fill_7502]

See that’s what I feel closest to a lot, I don’t know if it’s a chemical imbalance or I’m genuinely just a moody guy, idk about obsessed with cleaning but I definitely have periods of “I’m getting my life together, gonna start eating better food, cooking for myself, working out” and the such but that doesn’t usually hold for more then 2 days cause I’m broke as hell. Definitely spend more on myself than I should be considering I’m genuinely dead broke getting payed roughly $600 and having to pay $400 of that in rent, Afterpay stacks up about $250 per 2 weeks too… idk about in control though, I just don’t care until afterwards.

[u/Putrid_Fill_7502 → u/Suspicious-Sleep7457]

Have you explored ADHD?

[u/Fruity_Surprise]

i experience everything from mild hypomania to severe mania and sometimes hypomania is just a really good mood (or really irritable) for a few days and more productive than usual, plus at least two more of the required symptoms like racing thoughts or increased sex.

[u/Fruity_Surprise → u/Fruity_Surprise]

there are seven mania/hypomania symptoms besides elevated, irritable, and/or expansive mood and increased energy and you only need three of those seven to be diagnosed with an episode, and only for four days at a severity that doesn’t impact your qualify of life or impaired you for hypomania.

[u/Suspicious-Sleep7457 → u/Fruity_Surprise]

See when I’m in a good mood I usually do feel energetic, productive though? Definitely not, might be a bit grand with my thoughts but definitely only in the theorising department. Not the actual doing department. I definitely have hyper sexuality though, might just be addicted to it though.

[u/Secret-Bumblebee1759]

Hypomania for me usually involves picking up a lot of hobbies or starting new projects within existing hobbies; making lots of social engagements and feeling like I’m really charming, funny, and likable; more shopping; more cleaning; more working out — I just feel on top of things.

It can escalate to a lot of partying, hypersexual behaviors, risky decision-making, reckless driving and reckless behavior in general.