I'm glad the article was of interest. For me, it said a whole lot on a number of levels.

I've never really been an ultraradian cycler, though I have had the 4 or more times per year basic rapid cycling one or two years in the past. I certainly have had several mixed episodes in my time, but the worst were clearly of the hypomanic/manic and depressive symptoms simultaneously kind. Mood lability as described in a page from a link in the main link, I've had many many many times! Mine is of the kind where I'll sometimes have 1/2 day of clear hypomania, then the next day feel pretty down in the dumps. I think the only time I ever had ultraradian cycling was when I was put on antidepressants. That was a clear trigger. When not on antidepressants, it was not an issue.

Another really interesting thing that Dr. Phelps wrote about was indeed that "wave" idea. I can have many days or weeks where I think "I'm stable. I'm not depressed. I'm not hypomanic/manic. Why am I lacking energy so much and have ZERO motivation?" Dr. Phelp's wave illustration seemed to really explain this.

Though I have bipolar 1 and do have these clearly perceived "stable" periods between clear major episodes that DO meet DSM-5 criteria, the issue I mentioned above (i.e. about having zero motivation when seemingly stable) is disabling enough to often prevent me from full functionality. Or sometimes I'm seemingly stable with energy, but extremely anxious, but not really depressed. Dr. Phelps' wave chart seemed to explain this, too.

A lot of time, the bipolar spectrum idea seems to mostly refer to the fact that some people who don't quite seem to qualify for a bipolar diagnosis (according to a DSM), have certain mood characteristics that are bipolaresque. I also see the spectrum as a concept that includes people who do have clear cut bipolar 1 or 2 histories, but whose illness courses don't quite resemble some other people's in the same "type" bracket. I think of when I read Kay Redfield Jamison's memoir "Unquiet Mind". I definitely related to a lot of what she wrote about, but other things not so much, at least not in this latter part of my life. We are also not the same in that Lithium (a miracle drug for her) does little for me. I see us having many similarities, but our unique differences. But we are all people with bipolar disorder. When people post and write "I think I have bipolar, but I wonder because I don't quite relate to you or you or you." That's OK, in my opinion. You have your own "flavor" of the illness, as my psychiatrist likes to say. That doesn't mean we should feel alone in our own flavor. We do relate on so many other levels.