Well, yeah, sort of, kind of... See, I went from mid-1999 to mid-2011 without having an orgasm. During these times, save for 2003-2004, I was institutionalized. When I gained my freedom almost 6 years ago, I was equipped to handle orgasms. A dozen a day, almost! But the best orgasms, now, are those with friends. My semen is merely adequate and the trajectory is not as great. We all, all of us between 53 and 59, are slower but never clumsy or apologetic.

There are all manners of ‘cycling’ with bipolar I - you may stay in a dangerous manic mode (such as me) for years or go into a full-blown Bipolar I depressive mode for over a decade (as I did). I don’t believe that there is any circadian rhythm, or clock, if you will, that can adequately predict a ‘cycle’ of Bipolar I manifestations.

Only Isis knows why I stopped speaking, why I stopped caring for myself. I had a plan, though: equipped with the very latest backpacking gear, and food for seven days, I would travel to the nearest National Park and die of starvation, maybe dehydration, in the weeks to come. I got close - registering at a park office for campsites, but I was betrayed by friends (and, annoyingly, my ex-wife) from fulfilling my goal.

And thus began my three years in a large mental hospital, one for really crazy f**kers, and the myriad drugs and the ECT that helped me.

Cycles? Mine are long-lived, usually; but I have experienced rapid cycling in which I’m up and down.

Now you ask if your ability to achieve orgasm might be due to hypomania and I have to say that, unless you’re experiencing very rapid cycling, probably not. We must always remember that sexuality is not a symptom of Bipolar Disorders: hypo/hyper mania incites one to engage in risky behavior and having an orgasm (under your own strength, I assume?) is not risky behavior. So, no, an orgasm is not caused by manic episodes... and damn those who believe that an enhanced libido is sex addiction (or a symptom of the Bipolar Disorders).

My take is that you just got lucky. I can remember the 2nd night in my apartment when I felt brave enough to sleep naked, as I had since I was 10 years-old (removing the institutionalized years). I had one of the most powerful orgasms of my life and I shook and pulsed and quivered and spasmed and cursed every god in the Pantheon and wondered if I should clean myself or the headboard and wall first.

There was no mania, there. It was my feeling of freedom that allowed the release.

Putting mania aside, is there anything in your life that... pushed you... into wanting and achieving an orgasm? Something small, even? A compliment (those always embarrass me but make me horny), maybe. Some feeling of ‘goodness’?

If I were you I would not look to mania as a cause. There was, I think, some stimuli that allowed you to reach orgasm. Can you think of what it might be?