Hypomania vs. Full Blown Mania

I really enjoyed reading the Hypomanic thread from earlier today. My question is this: at what point does your hypomania cross over into Full Blown Mania?

I can definitely relate to the other thread with things like talking too much and too loud, acting weird, grandiose thinking and total euphoria, like a song on the radio makes me feel so great, like I could disappear into blissful happiness.

I am super productive with my work and I start making big plans for my business.

That is all the good stuff I suppose....but then it turns dark and I feel like ants are crawling in my brain. I'm so agitated. I feel like the world is moving in slow motion and I can't take it. I yell at my kids for stupid things. And there have been times in the past that I get so agitated that I physically beat myself up (my fists to my face). Once I locked my kids and keys in the car and in a haze I found a sledge hammer, busted in the window, then got in and went wherever it was we were going with glass all over the car.

I guess I would like to hear others definition of their own hypomania vs. maina.

Thanks.

Well, I put most of my hypomanic behaviors in the other thread. In 06 Hypomanic was the online affair with a guy in England, full blown was buying the $1000 plane ticket to see him...without ever seeing a photo or talking on the ph...and thinking it would be ok to leave my kids with dad cause 'I was gonna come right back'.

My second bout of mania I was in a support group giving my # to everyone telling them to call me as though I could fix them and went totally gangbusters after one guy who I ended up having a very short affair with. That one landed me in the hospital as it morphed into a very anxious mixed mood mostly depressed with self harm thoughts. That was in 10, I've been mostly stable since then.

Well,

Hypomania is all those euphoric things, sometimes it comes with anxiety. I sign up for hard classes, clubs, more commitments...

When I hit mania, voices start up, going through with weird actions (asking for two english classes, calling social services, counting) Thing like that... Or when I was in the hospital I believed that it wasn't me and everyone else's fault... o.0 haha That's manic!

This last manic episode was the worst for me. It started with happy hypomania, increased energy, elevated mood, thinking the world was the most beautiful place anyone could ever be, going on speed walks through the forest, etc. but it turned ugly about a week into it. I began hearing voices mumbling to me from far away. I also began seeing images In My mind, mostly of me hurting myself in various ways. I found it impossible to write in anything but convoluted prose. I began to think that my thoughts were not my own, and that maybe a demon was implanting thoughts in my head and trying to kill me (the thoughts were all intense suicidal thoughts). I thought I was being "told" to kill myself. I injured myself pretty badly and ended up hospitalized.

I guess the line gets drawn between hypo and mania for me when reality begins to blur. In my initial mania back in march led me to believe I had special healing powers and merely being in my presence would remove any emotional pain one was feeling at the time. That devolved into a mixed episode as well.

That's exactly how it is for me!

My hypomanias start out pretty much like anyone's, I guess---elevated mood, everything looks and smells and feels WONDERFUL, life is great, I'm talking and I can't shut up.....and so on.

It's like being on the rollercoaster going up, up, up, until I reach the very top.....and then I whip around a vicious curve at the speed of light and start the serious stuff. This usually involves paranoia, flight of ideas, and verbal incontinence in which the filter between my brain and mouth becomes nonexistent and I say anything and everything that pops into my head, much of which is inappropriate and hurts people. I don't care---it's like "so what's the matter with YOU?!"

I also become extremely irritable, anxious, and agitated. That's when I do incredibly reckless and foolish things behind the wheel of a car, including screaming at strangers in traffic and barreling down the freeway at 100 MPH. I yell at my family and curse at the dog for barking. And all this time, I'm acting like a spoiled brat and accusing my family of "trying to spoil my FUN!" by attempting to set limits on my behaviors. No, I am not a nice person when full-on manic......but I really do love my hypomanias!

Damn, that sounds like me lol. I was originally diagnosed bipolar years ago and then recently BPD. I always thought a full blown manic episode was you think your Jesus and can do any thing and talk 100 words per minute and have endless energy. I've never felt like that but yea the hypomania sure, and I too am not a very nice person BUT if I'm stuck in a elevated mood for long I turn in to Gandhi lol.

For me, put simply, it's when the hallucinations and/or delusions start up. A while back, I decided to write a novel. I started about six of them and didn't finish any of them. Lately, I've been having thoughts that I would be the great American novelist and Hollywood would want to make a movie from my novel and I would get filthy rich. For me, that's the line between hypomania and mania.

Hypomania for me is when I'm, "just doing well...can't I just be doing well?".

Manic is when the patient sitting next to me leans over and whispers to me conspiratorially, "I'm the female side of Christ." I Smile and think, "poor deluded soul...I'm the female side of Christ."

I'll be honest, I'm not sure what part of what I did in 06 was hypo or full blown. I was delusional in that I thought I was 'in love' but it was a two way thing going on there. But, all those 4 hr nights of sleep, I was writing, I wrote a story (not saying it was good enough to be published) that was 174 pages of paper printed front and back, in less than 3 months. I've never written anything longer than a term paper before that. A lot of people who read it liked it. I was very goal directed. Hey, am I the only one here that gets hypersexual though? Lord have mercy, I hate that part.

One doesn't have to be psychotic to fulfill the criteria for full-blown mania.....although I'm sure it helps. j/k

Actually, paranoia and delusional thinking of any kind are considered psychosis, and I think most of us have experienced at least some of that. I had it after my last child was born (and let me tell you, THAT was some scary $#!+) and almost went completely out of control on Wellbutrin. I mean, I was running around, slamming doors and threatening to kill people--at work!! I'm still shocked that no one called the fellows with the butterfly nets...

Looking back now, I realize that was when I finally understood that I was sick, even though in that case it was medication-induced. I'd been that kind of sick before, too, only nobody thought anything of it at the time because I drank like a fish----everything got blamed on that, when the truth was that I really was crazy.

No, you're not the only one. My hypersexuality led me to sleep with a co-worker, see prostitutes, and have a three year sexual relationship with a woman 20 years younger than me. That last one almost cost me my family permanently.

Hahahaha! Perfect! Been there done that!

hmmmm.

hypomania: slightly elevated mood, increased energy, doesn't want to go to bed til late, more talkative, thoughts are more fluid, some mood change, strongly pursuing realistic goals, intense reward response (I GOT IT! YES! )irritability, tell a lot of jokes, basically the world feels like it's moving about 10mph faster, I'm really excited about pursuing and achieving goals, and my confidence around women is increased.

mania: euphoric, profoundly increased energy, can't sleep, rapid/pressured speech, racing thoughts, head is wired, hurts, and can't control it, drastic mood change, expansive/unrealistic goals, anger, hostility, tell a lot of jokes and be excessively silly, basically the world feels like it's moving at 100 mph. Does lots of creative stuff like draw in a notebook and write things down (at least it seemed creative at the time), and I'm really loopy, not myself.

I don't know so I ask here.

I think everyone's described hypo mania pretty well. Mania for me is maxing out 8 credit cards in about an hour online because I thought I should have some generic Christmas presents in case we forgot someone. In April.

Buying a car because Capital One sent me a mailer and I thought it was a sign from the universe that my car was a death trap.

Leaving my husband because I was convinced my boss was my soul mate.

I love this thread. I also hate it. However, it is good to know that there are people that understand. Whenever I do open up to someone, I get the standard, "you can talk to me whenever," or the "keep your chin up," type of resonse. I know they are trying to help, but it just makes me fee that much more isolated bc I know they don't understand....

This last time I don't remember the hypomania. I just know that I thought angels were giving me the secrets to the universe and the sun was talking to me.

For me hypomania is just less pronounced, I have elevated mood, racing thoughts, fast speech, hypersexual feelings but not likely to act on them like when I'm manic. I don't tend to be paranoid when hypomanic. Just a bit elevated, amped up, if you will..I have a bit better impulse control when hypomanic.

The part of my bipolar that led to me being diagnosed as Bipolar I are my manic episodes. For me, I can get full-blown manic 1-3 times a year, everything is amped up times 10. I feel intense energy, almost constant racing thoughts, wanting to tell everyone everything about these theories I have about the universe & cosmos, painting, cleaning like crazy, & going out and being hypersexual. My last manic episode, I had sex with 4 different people in 5 days, & hardly slept at all. I filled up a whole notebook of random ramblings. I also tend to get paranoid when I am fully manic. Like I think people are looking at me, watching me, spying on me, random people. I also have these obsessive thoughts that I can't get rid of, sometimes they send me to the hospital because I can't turn my brain off. Totally irrational. Plus my anxiety tends to get worse when I am manic also. So there's definately a big difference between hypomanic & full blown mania for me.

No. I'm more often than not hyper sexual. When going into hypo mania it's awesome feeling but sometimes annoying. In mania it's absolutely insane. Ridiculous. Honestly. I remember having an orgasm in line at a rite aid while handing the cashier money. How this happens? no idea. Seriously. It's just the feeling of it, not like some full blown, vocalization. Glad you mentioned this. I dress differently. I think I'm other people or related to them, I constantly feel I'm living a movie. If I'm watching one I really believe the characters are all people I know personally. I believe I too can also heal people from them being in my presence and recycling their energy. I will be hostile w anyone who gets in my way, or incredibly insulting, and enraged. I sound well. Completely insane. It's extremely painful to feel like that. Plus a billion other things. So for me. There is no h,, maybe I. Hypo manic. It's like oh ****. She's lost it.

Then I was actually told that any Buddhist has had this euphoric high orgasm feeling type experience. Had just read the diamond sutra... Thought I was just finally reaching enlightenment