Are Each Episodes Different?

Each time you have a episode are they a different type (rotate)? Ex. I'm just coming out of a depression episode, my previous two episodes were mania and hypo. Will my next one be mania or hypo again?

There's no real rhyme or reason, nor can anyone anticipate with any reliability which type of episode is "next". Season changes can give you a clue, as can anniversaries of good or bad events in your life; otherwise, mood changes are as inevitable as the tide and far more difficult to predict.

With me I can only say which way my mood will most likely go because it's usually similar the same times of the year but I have a lot of mixed episodes so I'm not always sure.

Yes, Bipolar illness is a dynamic one, changing constantly. I think the less stress we
encounter, the more stable the moods are going to be. That's why is so important, in my view, to have as little stress as we can manage.

Was just reading yesterday that if we can keep the ego under control, we're much more
likely not to let things bother us so much. I remember BipolaRNurse once said that
she looked into a mirror for the problem and said to herself something like "you're the problem". That is exactly what the writer was trying to express in his views.

It's our egos that get in the way. Barring that, we should all be able (in theory, according to the writer) to live with peace and even joy.

I think Alcoholics Anonymous does one of the best jobs of helping to get the ego under
real discipline in helping a person to live a healthy lifestyle.

Have enjoyed the threads recently so much. Thanks for it all.

Isn't the existence of the ego a bit outdated? Freud was not the most ethical scientist and there has not been any proof of the id/ego and super ego.

I agree with you on the stress bit, genetic. I think bipolar patients are sensitive to change and stress...mores then the average person.

Moods can be tracked over a long period of time to see if there is any pattern to them.

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Maybe not, Confusedinomicon, but psychiatrists do use the theory in their
work; at least the ones I've had do--that is, a theory of the ego, id and superego. All religions suggest that the ego needs to go in terms of well-being, and it has been written about by some of the best theologians--
Emanuel Kant, for one, in his works. I think many other Phds have written about it, too. I remember reading the statement that what happens in religious conversion is the "burning of the ego to the degree that one becomes aware of an over-riding Spritiual Guide". I can't discount the
almost unlimited work on the subject that suggests ideas about the ego,
particularly as a problem in the need for psychiatric help.

normally triggers result in depression for me but for last few months they result in mania.... i think i am just coming out of major depression so my brain must be tired of it and pushes me into manic phase. honestly mania is as bad as depression, i cant concentrate so i cant function well.... if only i could predict next episode,i would plan my whole life around them...

A psychiatrist told me once that mania is a reaction to depression. So you're right, in my veiw, that your brain just may be tiring of the depression and moves into hypomania to resist the depression. Could be, I suppose.

I think it can be different person to person and episode to episode. I'm in a mixed episode right now after a couple of months of alternating depression and mania. I was in a mixed episode back in january and february too after depression so I guess there is no rhyme or reason. hopefully you do not go into a mania that is dangerous!

Mine, I discovered, have no rhyme nor reason. I never know when I am going to be hypomaniac or depressed. Right now I am blessed to have mood stabilization.

My depressed moods usually are random, but strangely enough, my hypomania or whatever it is usually happens when exciting things are happening.I used to actually like feeling this way because it seemed like I was living my dream life. But, I knew I would crash soon, and everything would fall apart again.