I hate to be a Debbie Downer but i've been diagnosed 25 years and i have not found that knowing about episodes has helped me. I know that's not what you want to hear.

I can detect the early stages of hypomania and may go see my doctor for more meds but we haven't found any that help. I find doctors just prescribe extra Seroquel for hypomania but it gives me akathisia so i can't take it. If my mood gets too high i lose all insight and just think i've 'healed myself' and am no longer bipolar and will feel fantastic til the end of my days... It never lasts.

During the Winter i get depressed and i'm also aware of what's happening at first but then when it gets more intense i feel like i'm so under-water that i'm overwhelmed and just think life has gotten mediocre again and there will be no end... But happily, that doesn't last either!

In 2014 and 2015 i got Spring hypomanias and started very unwise renovation projects both years. But in 2016 i didn't get any. I'm hoping to skip it again this year. I used to get Fall hypomania too. Patterns change. I made a plan that if hypomania ever hits again i will be a tourist in my own city, which is a lovely city and see all the sights and do other benign activities to exhaust myself.

Could you write yourself just such a contingency plan?