What Does Bipolar Hypomania Feel Like?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 2, 2012

Hypomania. People haven’t generally heard of that word, but once they have, they want to know, what does bipolar hypomania feel like? This is a reasonable question with a completely unreasonable answer.

What is Bipolar Hypomania?

Hypomania can occur in many illnesses but it is a diagnostic feature of bipolar II. People with bipolar II experience hypomanias as opposed to the manias of bipolar I. I generally shortcut the definition and simply say that hypomania is like mania light.

Bipolar hypomania is not life-threatening by definition. Mania, on the other hand, is. In fact, to me hypomanias are little more than a bother. Well, a bother with the positive side effect of being a very fast way to get work done. Usually, but not always. Bipolar moods and their impacts tend to be unpredictable.

This is not the case for everyone, however. Hypomanias can jump in and destroy your life quite nicely, thanks. They remove judgement and create a sense of hypersexuality for many. This leads to, say, jumping the bones of the person next to you, over and over. Or spending money that you don’t have on Versace handbags. Or gambling away your rent money. Or writing an endless stream of gobbledygook and posting it on the internet making you seem a little, um, nutty, all the while insisting that it was genius. Or being so angry that you scream at the flies (not to mention people) that dare annoy you by entering your apartment. And other things. All of which have a habit of harming relationships and lifestyles.

What Does Hypomania Feel Like?

Like a freight train running through the middle of my head.

Mixed Bipolar Disorder – Mixed Mood Episodes in Bipolar 2

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 10, 2011

As I mentioned, mixed moods are technically considered part of the manic phase of bipolar disorder and thus, by definition, are only a part of bipolar disorder type 1. However, those of us with bipolar type 2 can tell you we mix it up with the best of them.

So, in part II of this series on mixed moods in bipolar disorder, I look at mixed moods in bipolar type II.

Mixed Moods in Bipolar Type II

Now that we’ve wandered into Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-free territory, definitions on mixed states get a bit looser.

Mixed mood states may be, in fact, the most common way of experiencing bipolar type II. I find most people have a hard time distinctly separating “depression” from “hypomania” from “normal” moods. There is just too much crossover.

Two Types of Mixed Moods in Bipolar Disorder

Additionally, considering mixed moods to be part of the manic phase of bipolar disorder becomes useless when looking at bipolar II. As an article in Psychiatric Times suggests, there are really two types of mixed moods in bipolar disorder:

Mixed mood with depression as the primary mood (meeting the criteria for depression with some hypomania symptoms present)
Mixed mood with hypomania as the primary mood (meeting the criteria for hypomania with some depression symptoms present)

Those two mood types better reflect my own experience and I think the clinical experience of other patients and doctors.

Five New Bipolar Depression Treatments You Don’t Know About – Part 2/2

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 22, 2011

As I mentioned, people with bipolar type II spend 35X more time depressed than hypomanic, and yet there are very few treatments available.

As we discussed last time, the neurotransmitter glutamate and the inflammatory complex are two new, badly-needed areas of bipolar depression treatment research. Here are three additional bipolar depression treatment areas you probably don’t know about: diet, antioxidants and modafinil.

5 New Bipolar Depression Treatments You Don’t Know About – Part 1

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 17, 2011

People with bipolar disorder 2 spend 35 times more time depressed than hypomanic. As a person with bipolar type 2, I can tell you how true this is. Bipolar type 2 is more like a depressive disorder than a bipolar one. However, this doesn’t mean bipolar disorder 2 can just be treated like unipolar depression. If only life were that simple.

Bipolar disorder type 2 depression treatments must not induce hypomania or mania, and antidepressants used alone often do that. For this reason bipolar 2 depression treatment is generally like happy hour (full of cocktails). And many of us are very frustrated with the fact no new medications are being developed for our mental illness.

So here’s some hope. Here are five bipolar depression treatment areas you probably don’t know about.