Travel & hypo!

My main trigger for hypomania seems to be sleep disturbance.

Travel seems to come in a close second - especially when traveling across time zones - and often involves sleep disturbance and a lot of social stimulus too. I also end up doing a lot of drinking with all that socializing, sometimes (often?) to the point of binge drinking.

I'll end up with a total of almost 100 days of travel this year (mostly solo), so it's really been throwing me for a loop.

Does anyone else have problems with travel as a trigger? How do you deal with it? Any suggestions for strategies to minimize the damage?

I'm jealous that you've spent 100 days/365 traveling!

Unfortunately, I can't think of much advice for you, other than avoiding alcohol. Do you usually do dangerous things (other than the binge drinking) while hypo? If not, I wouldn't worry too much. Just enjoy it! If you are at risk for unprotected sex with strangers,overspending, etc., perhaps sheer awareness of that will help you to avoid these things. Be vigilant in tracking your mood, and occasionally stop yourself and ask if what you are currently doing is influenced by a potential hypomania, and if it is risky.

All that travel sounds good on paper, but it's super disruptive to the everyday life. If you do the math, that's traveling more than a week every month, which means I'm constantly preparing for or recovering from travel, and not getting as much solid work done in between.

So far so good on avoiding dangerous stuff (other than drinking). Only minor overspending, and usually "forgivable" travel-related expenses. But on one trip earlier this year, I definitely overspent and also came home with (another) new tattoo. Fortunately, it's an awesome tattoo, so I can't regret that too much!

I worry more about the potential consequences of being a little too intense in social settings, e.g., talking way too much with the filter off. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot professionally. For example, it's likely that I'll get a chance to negotiate the postdoc I really want on this trip, assuming I can keep my **** together. And my mental clarity (while I might think it's stellar) really drops when I'm getting only 2 hours of sleep a night, which is not great if you're supposed to be on point for professional interactions.

And of course, when I get home and return to some level of stability, it's not back to normal. There's usually a mercifully brief spell of depression to struggle out of as well. Except that I'm on track for an annual bout of depression that tends to be longer and nastier anyway, so the rebound from hypomania could be a lot harder to pull out of.

I'm two time zones away from home this week, and my sleep is already messed up on day one because of an early flight. I actually have to get to bed within the next hour or I'm in for an episode for sure - 2 short nights in a row gets me all wound up!

Have you thought about using light therapy? Light boxes aren't just for seasonal depression anymore. They make portable ones that you can travel with to help you adjust your circadian rhythms. You start using it a day or two before you travel, either in the morning or at night, depending on which direction you're traveling to. The one I have even has a timer with an alarm clock. It wakes you up with a chime and gradually increasing light, like a natural sunrise would. I have a GoLite Blu lightbox and I really like it.

Oh - also, if you get a script for one from your doctor, they're usually reimbursable under your company's flexible spending account if you have one.

(Later edit: sorry, I just realized that I've already mentioned this to you in an earlier post.)