Quote:
Originally Posted by AquaGuy
Is there any way to actually tell for sure whether you feel hypomanic or just in a very good mood?
I have been hypomanic (as far as I know) for about 8-9 days now and it has now begun to drop, but not into depression. It seems to be a milder form of hypomania where I feel like I want to be alone and feel irritable but also feel less sleepy than normal but have less hyperactivity than I've had for the past week as well as my thoughts slowing down. However, every now and again I will get bursts of energy where I need to get up and just jump or jog or something. It could be because I've been trying to maintain the euphoric state with coffee and forcing myself to be as active as possible to try and induce the euphoria again...
My baseline is slightly withdrawn, people know me as socially awkward and prefer to be in the background, and I feel like my euphoric hypomania (or something else?) has been fluctuating from irritable, wanting to be left alone, to wanting to talk people's ears off...
So confused.
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Well, it's difficult to tell if you're just feeling good or hypomanic since the line between can be very fine. It always depends on the individual, how they act when they're hypomanic. One person's hypomania can be another person's normal mood. Hypomania is something different from your "normal" mood and yes, I know, it can be difficult to tell what's your normal mood. But usually when people are hypomanic, they can't really control it. They may feel happy and joyful (if euphoric) for no good reason and even sad life events won't bring them much down. In normal good mood people react to good/happy life events by becoming happy, and sad life events make them sad. When you're hypomanic there is no particular reason for being happy and sometimes positive life events can affect the mood even more than normally.
That's just my own experience. Of course the symptoms vary and sometimes it can be very difficult to tell, especially if the hypomania is mild.
It may be helpful to ask yourself some of these questions:
Are you acting different than normal? (your own or someone else's opinion)
Have other people noticed that you're overpositive or hyperactive?
Do you have any control over your actions or mood?
How much is it affecting your life?
But I doubt that there is any way to tell for sure. The doctor's diagnosis is based on observation and your symptoms. And even doctors can be wrong, especially if they don't know the patient well, and how they act normally.