Lately I've been wondering about a trait I have and which I've noticed in other bipolar friends / support group buddies, at least the ones who aren't so anxious that it keeps them in their shell most of the time. I don't think all bipolar people have this but I'm curious how many know what I'm talking about. I also wonder if it's related to empathy.

I use the analogy of a fluorescent light bulb. You put electricity through the bulb and the gas inside emits ultraviolet light. The coating on the inside of the bulb then absorbs the UV and re-radiates it as visible light.

I've noticed that this happens to me and some other bipolar types but with emotions rather than light. Get us in a certain situation and we not only absorb the emotional "energy" but then concentrate and re-radiate it. This can be annoying or exhausting for others at times, and sometimes downright destabilizing when we are doing it with people with their own mental health challenges.

As an example, I like long lively conversations, and I tend to get high off them. Like I may start out normal or even in a bad mood, but as the conversation goes on I start quite literally getting high (brief hypomania) and past a certain point I start re-radiating the energy, I talk too much or too fast and I need to start watching what I say and do.

I'm curious how common this may be among bipolar people.

It can be pretty intense when you get two people like this together, BTW. I made a new friend in a therapy group recently and they gave me a ride home once and we sat talking and got high off each other - I thought it was just me at the time but it was both of us. Then we hung out for real and holy crap, it was one of the most high-impact few hours I've spent with anybody in years! It rang my bell hard - for me the aftereffects were pleasant, even though I was not stable for a couple days. My friend on the other hand got pretty badly destabilized and it messed the weekend up

Friend is not diagnosed bipolar currently but I have a suspicion they are misdiagnosed and may have bipolar II as I do. Anyway, thank god we are both self-aware enough that we could talk about it and agree to step back and take the new friendship nice and slow to avoid another flashover like that This is not the only example of mutual resonance in my life, my best friend is bipolar I and we have a version of it, but it doesn't destabilize us.