I’m not sure how your average person deals with stress. Bingeing? Talking? Ranting? Raging? Running? I just don’t know. As far as I can see, people do all those things when they’re stressed.

But for a person with bipolar disorder, stress can lead to hypomania. And one has to deal with the stress and deal with the hypomania combined – which is kind of stressful in and of itself.

I’m Stressed

Tomorrow I’m being filmed for a documentary by Andy Fiore of Fiore Films. It is for a documentary about people who have learned to successfully live with bipolar disorder. As many of us do, I successfully live with bipolar disorder type 2 even if it’s a rocky path much of the time. And one might argue, I have turned my bipolar disorder into a positive by becoming a mental health writer and helping create a positive path for others living with bipolar disorder.

OK. Fine. But I kind of can’t breathe.

But I admit, I’m nervous. Stressed. I’m stressed about appearing on camera. Even though I do a video spot for HealthyPlace once a month, I still don’t feel particularly comfortable looking into the black abyss of a camera lens.

Stress Leads to Bipolar HypomaniaI’m Stressed. I’m Hypomanic.

What do I wear? What do I say? What do I not say? How do I not sound like a shmuck? I just don’t know these things. These are unanswered questions for me.

And they sure the heck are eating away at the back of my brain. And maybe the middle of my brain. And maybe the front. So sayeth the fragments of brain I can scrape together for a consensus anyway. Many other fragments are off doing random bits of flittery that keep distracting me from writing.

My brain is taking the stress, that would make an average person feel, well, stressed, and turning it into hypomania. A fast-thinking, fragmented-moving, cluttered, shaky world view.

Bipolar Hypomania is Useful?

And all this hypomania is kind of useful in that it’s helping me get a lot done before I’m off to do the filming (it’s going to eat a whole day). I appreciate that. But hypomania also seems to turn the stress volume up to 11, makes sleeping impossible and makes following through on a task extremely challenging. It’s like pumping 110 volts into a 100 volt socket. It’s powerful but one could argue the usefulness of lighting your wiring on fire.

Using and Not Abusing Hypomania

Hypomania then, is pretty dangerous. It’s a sharp knife, good for slicing carrots but deadly on the fingers. So I try to use it for what it’s good for – producing energy and getting things done – and yet try not to let it get out of control. I won’t drink coffee or eat a tonne of sugar and I’ll force sleep on myself through whatever means necessary tonight. I won’t encourage the hypomania, I’ll try to work with it accepting that I’m not going to be able to make it go away completely.

Hypomania Passes, and Not Usually in a Friendly Way

And if there’s one thing I think it’s quintessential to remember it’s that the higher you fly in hypomania the farther there is to fall when you’re done. A hypomanic Wednesday, due to excessive stressors will probably lead to one heck of a Thursday coming back from an impact crater.

So, wish me luck, deep breaths and good hair. I’ll let you know how it goes.