I've been stable for about a year and a half now except for a 1-month bout of depression. During this time, I've had good and bad days, periods of time overwhelmed by anxiety, even very occasional thoughts about not wanting to be around. Sometimes I'm irritable, sometimes sad, sometimes content, occasionally happy, often anxious. But I think all of this is normal. Not every mood has something to do with BP. I try to think of it as imagining someone without an MI at all: they (everyone) has different moods, some lasting days, from downright misery to elation and I think all of this can be perfectly 'normal' (meaning not being due to an MI).

When I don't sleep much for a couple of nights in a row I can get mild hypomania symptoms, but they're mild and don't last long. I can get worried at first, but once it's gone away soon after it's started, I know it wasn't an episode: I call it a 'blip' -a bit scary at first, but nothing to worry about. I think, from experience, that worrying can make things worse, so it's best to cut oneself some slack and accept that we can experience a wide range of emotions (even if they really really suck sometimes) but that they're not worrisome in a BP sense. And sometimes, like most people, we're triggered by things going on around us or even our own thoughts that also affect our mood.