I don't always get depressed after manias, especially if the mania was a relatively short-lasting one. Like Moose72 wrote, my Seroquel XR is pretty good at arresting my manias nowadays without allowing for any major switches. My last full-blown mania was in May and lasted about two weeks. It started during a trip to Portugal and continued until about a week after my return. My psychiatrist upped my Seroquel XR the day of my return. I then stabilized.

I've had some slightly down times since May, but nothing severe. Actually, stressors since then kind of made my moods go up and down a lot, but not beyond short-term mood elevations or mild to moderate short-term mood deflation (low energy, low motivation, down in the dumps). Some didn't even fully qualify as episodes.

I guess I'm stable now, but lower energy. Most of last week I was slightly up. Being "just right" is not always easy to obtain.

My most severe depression of my life lasted a little over one year, and actually did follow a very long period of almost non-stop manias and manias with mixed features. These manias came again and again over a period of 3 years, separated by only short stable periods or periods. Some were quite traumatic with hallucinations and delusions of persecution. Then was the major switch. I ended up having to get ECT because of the severe depression.