i don't experience that feeling. i'm more impulsive and irritable. i feel like running away and screaming at the top of my lungs. i feel like i lose complete control of myself and it's very difficult for me to function well on those days. and it's really terrible because as you mentioned, it is hard to fall asleep no matter how much you want to. because honestly i would prefer to sleep than have those feelings. i feel terrible because my children and my husband get the short end of the stick on those days since everything "annoys" me. and because i am not in control of my feelings, it is very difficult to have an ordinary day where i can help my children with their homework and cook and interact with them. they both want attention that at those moments i cannot provide. so in a nutshell, i try to be consistent with my meds to avoid those days, but to be honest it is still difficult to predict, even when on meds, what mood i am going to wake up with. when i am on my meds as prescribed, i try to plan my day based on my mood. so if i am feeling depressed, i try to interact with others and get out with the kids to go visit family or friends. i fight the desire to stay in bed by doing that, because before i would just isolate myself and cut off all communication with everyone. now i try to do the contrary. if i am in a good mood, or maybe a bit too joyous, i embrace it because i have more energy to do things that need to get done and i do things for my kids and husband. so i guess it comes with experience and learning coping strategies that work for you, in this case your wife. does she see a therapist? or just a pdoc? if she does not see a therapist you may want to look into that, a therapist can help with giving suggestions of coping strategies that will work for her. i know that in your previous posts that i have responded to, you mentioned that your wife was bipolar, however, i notice that the episodes you have mentioned are all depressive episodes. does she ever experience any symptoms of mania?