My diagnosis is Bipolar 2, but another site member pointed out that my descriptions of hypomania sound more like mania so maybe I'm BP 1. I have only had 3 episodes like that, but they were pretty full on - I don't sleep, can't stay still, and I do really dangerous things ie. sex, drugs, etc. Anyways, the last time I had a severe episode was 2 years ago, and I had a mixed episode which landed me involuntarily hospitalized for 3 weeks. I did some very stupid things during that episode, and I'm still dealing with the consequences of my actions. I have had depression way more frequently than hypomania or mania, or whatever that was. I have also had more subtle fluctuations, which were definitely just hypomanic. I don't know that it really matters whether I'm 1 or 2, because it all sucks, and the meds are basically the same, but it would be nice to be more clear about what I'm dealing with. My pdoc told me that I am pretty classically BP II, but that was before my hospitalization. Maybe I should ask her what she thinks now, but I feel like she would have told me if she changed the diagnosis. I don't want to be a hypochondriac, I just want to understand what has happened and why my life is the way it is.

It's so hard to know where the line between mania and hypomania is, and even harder to have insight into myself when I get that way.

So, how do you tell the difference between hypomania and mania in yourselves?