[lunarpariah]

I was only recently diagnosed with BP 1, before that my diagnosis was Major Depressive Disorder, severe recurrent.

So when I was diagnosed as BP two weeks ago I started reading everything I could find about it. One of the things that I've read on many sites if that is you're really happy then your manic, if you're only slightly happy then its hypo mania, Nothing really says anything about a 'good' level of happiness.

Is there an healthy level of happiness and if so how can you differentiate between them?

I know this is probably a small thing compared to others but I'm trying to track my moods and find it hard to recognize the differences.

Thank you for any insight anyone can give. Thanks!

[SunAngel]

If you are feeling happy, just go with it.

Do not question it. Just enjoy the feeling. I really hope it lasts for you. I really, really do.

When you are 1st diagnosed, you question every single mood you have which is totally normal.

When you are feeling happy, live with that feeling for as long as it lasts. You just never know, you may have attained the correct med. cocktail that takes years to attain for so many others.

I have Bipolar 1, for me I wouldn't really describe it as happy as much as extreme euphoria, with bipolar 1 grandiosity is present a lot of times too, inflated ego.

A big thing to be able to tell if I am manic, is my thoughts, which are very fast, and flights of ideas. My thoughts make sense to me, and my jokes, but other people stand there looking a little confused. Sometimes my thoughts are so fast that I become pretty non functional. Also energy and movement speed for me. I am not just fast in my head, I am fast in everything I do, making me clumsy. The staying up for nights on end. And I also get psychosis. This is how I can tell I am manic, grouping the symptoms. It can be really hard for a manic person to realize that they are indeed manic sometimes.

A lot of the time I will not realize I am manic until things get really severe and I am no longer functioning anymore.

I hope that helped some, I have been diagnosed for for many years, and even still It hard to tell when I am manic till after the fact.

[wing]

When you are new to BP, it is natural to second guess every little change in emotion. Remember that BP is a continuum and there will be periods of time when your mood is not affected by it. The goal of medication treatment is to get you to the point of staying at that level as long as possible.

Outside events have a bearing on moods, and that doesn't make them bipolar moods; weddings, births bring joy...sickness and death bring depression. We call that kind of mood "situational".

I'm not a big fan of mood charting just because it is confusing to try to tease out which mood is caused by what. I do know, though, that many drs and pts use them, especially when beginning treatment. They are useful in many cases, just not for me.

[kaliope]

i dont think its so much that you gauge it on happiness than on elation. that would be happiness with that touch of euphoria that anika was talking about. a little overly happy, giddy even. anika mentions not recognizing being manic until its too late. that is how it is for me. im not known as a generally happy person but not as unhappy either. just neutral i guess. but once i was teaching class with an intern and we were chatting before class began and i was a little chattier than normal and the intern commented that my mood was "stellar". right then, im like "oh f***, im manic". it definately is stealth about creeping up on you.

[mokie]

I am one that a mood chart and journaling really has helped me realize when I am getting a little to happy more then usual, or getting hypomania which then I know I lead to watch out for more things that can lead me to a real manic phase that I really don't want to go to again. It was difficult at first for me to see where I was at but after one year of charting and journaling it has really helped me. I now know not all but things that can trigger me and symptoms to look out for when I am getting further into mania. I need less and less sleep, mind starts having too many ideas, talk more, feel overwhelmed that I don't have enough time to complete everything, my movements are faster, irritability, these are a few of when I know or my husband knows to watch out for. Even the way I think or interpret things are different. All this also goes for heading to depression. Things are just the opposite. I hope this helped some.

[dragonfly2]

I agree with the others who have said it's not necessarily just happiness per se. It's the whole picture, and that picture can look different from person to person. So, the first thing to do would be to make a list of things that tend to happen when you are manic. Do you sleep less? Do you spend money? Do you want a lot of sex? Do you turn to religion? Start lots of projects? Business/education plans? Cooking? Cleaning? Having any hallucinations? etc, etc. Don't focus so much on the happiness level, but focus on what it is that you are doing. That's the real hallmark of mania for many people - we don't usually sit still with our euphoria - we're all over the place and can't stop doing things with it! But mania can also be rageful and angry. That's something to try to notice as well, and should be on your list if you feel it applies to you.

Mood per se can be a tricky thing to gauge, but how much you're sleeping, how much you're spending, or needing sex, or making plans, or, or, or...that's something concrete that can be measured much more easily than whether or not you laughed "too much" that day.