Sister Rags - way up north and inland - Shasta County...you? And thanks for giving me a term for this...obsessive ruminating. It helps me to feel more like it's experienced by enough people that there's a name for it.

Newtothis - I just got my first smartphone (really late to the party); any suggestions on good apps for mood charting? I feel like I'm all over the place right now. Normally, I think I'm just either depressed or not (and I'm realizing now that 'not' is a lot of hypomania). It can be broken up with small bits of hypo during a primarily depressive episode in general. Right now, though, it feels like a ton of 'ups & downs' where the ups are characterized not by happiness or energy, but by irritability, anxiety and difficulty getting to sleep.

I think my thoughts have a lot to do with what I'm experiencing right now...hoping as I get more used to the idea of being bipolar, I'll spend less time fixated on what that means to me and going over everything in my life with that light. Thanks for the hope that this will improve at some point...