Not gibberish at all, good questions.

It's gonna be different for everyone with some sort of similarities but nothing is engraved in stone.

I have different levels of depression, from mild all the way up to Major. The lengths vary too. From just a couple of hours to several months. I can be normal or rather "baseline" which really is different for every one too. It's the best they can expect to be with the least amount of issues. I can be baseline for days, weeks, months, even years. I also go the other way to feeling extremely good, a natural high, on top of the world, more energy and very happy! These too can last hours, days, weeks, months. I also go thru mixed episodes too, my mixed can include depression, anxiety, irritability, baseline, and elevated. My mixed usually last days or weeks.