Does anybody else gets hypomanic during extended periods of sunlight?

It's already Spring, and I just simply love Spring since I live in the Netherlands.
All the flowers blooming, sunny days (not so often), it's just lovely.

But with the periods of sunlight getting longer and longer, I get more active until I'm finally hypomanic and feeling amazing and being reckless.

Does anybody else go through the same thing as me? I just noticed the switch in my mood last year, and now I've noticed the same pattern.



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The longer days has triggered a mixed episode in me. My therapist thinks it's directly linked to the more sunshine. I really won't know for another year if it's a pattern or not.

Hi gayleggg

I get super optimistic and productive during these periods. I just love sunny days, the longer the better. But last year I went completely over the top.

And now agin with the sunlight period getting longer I've realized my mood is going up, up and up. That makes me a bit scared.

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My moods are definitely affected by the weather! I love sunshine! I'm completely useless on cloudy, rainy days. But lately I've been having trouble even getting myself out into the sun. It's seems I'm breaking my pattern of hypomania on sunny days. I don't understand why either. Normally, I'd at LEAST be out tanning, but I think that I've sunk to some level of depression that even my "fail safe" tricks won't pull me out of.

I definitely get hypo/manic during the spring and summer. The only thing that's saving me right now is being rather heavily medicated; I can feel the mania stirring around under the surface, but it's not quite able to make it all the way to the top. As it is, I'm sort of pre-hypomanic.....great mood, but jittery and unable to focus. I did get my dresser rearranged and cleaned out, and now the winter clothes are put away. Yay!

Apparently, it makes me want to spend money, lots of it, and it messes with my sleep for a limited time. But then, it still leaves me depressed, very depressed. UGH...

Same with me, I spend loads of money on clothes. I did a cleaning on my closet this winter and realized I had 38 (!!!) dresses, some of them still with the tag on. I bought most part of this huge amount during a crazy shopping spree last summer. I felt so ashamed afterwards

However once summer is gone I don't really get depressed. I feel a bit cranky, slow and with less energy, but I manage to get out of bed.

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i think the weather definately controls our moods-just look at the way people drive when the suns out. it gives people a feeling of contentment and people are crazy in their cars. it also makes me happy too.

I get hypomanic or manic every June from the sun. I have used orange glasses to block some of the extra blue light (the same light that helps SAD) and that helped back when I was working and getting sun for many hours of the day while working (I did home health so I was in the car about 4 hours of the work day plus I commuted a long way so LOTS of sunlight.) They aren't pretty but they do help.

Am I allowed to post links here? Because I can send you to where I learned about this and where the glasses come from (they have to be a very specific shade of orange) if I'm allowed. It gives more explanation than I necessarily can and the link to the place I bought mine (they were pretty cheap, $7-8 I think). They aren't perfect and I have still had June issues even when I'm not out as much in the direct sun but they do help some for me and maybe more for others.

Hi,
I am not sure about posting links, but it'd be super helpful for me and a lot of other people in this topic

Does anyone know if links are allowed?

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I sent a question to a facilitator to find out.

So this morning I woke up just feeling absolutely great! Which is unusual for me since I'm like the moodiest person in the morning. During breakfast I was like a motormouth, babbling and jumping from one topic to another. Then suddenly my bf gently asked me to stop because he was not following up the conversation since I was talking too much and too fast. I felt like a red alert had just been raised at that moment. But I was feeling soooo good that it did not bother me. So we went biking and we biked the whole afternoon, 19 miles in total. Going from one little town to another in the south of Holland (where we're spending a long weekend), and we even crossed the border to Belgium and visited a Trappist monastery. Afterwards I was feeling tired but like good tired, satisfied and calm. Of course this is not something I can keep doing in a daily basis.
The funny things is when I asked my boyfriend short ago I if was going THAT fast during breakfast, he confirmed it and mentioned the topics I was going through my monologue - I did not remember any of them, I just recall the sensation of going fast and up up up

I guess I'll have a great night of sleep tonight. The quality of my sleep has been very poor.

I'm sticking to a sleeping schedule I agreed with my therapist. And even though I'm managing to follow it, my sleep is very restless. I wake up every hour or so and my mind is like full of racing thoughts, and most of them are completely random, like things from my childhood, or people I have not seen in ages.

Anyways, at least for today I managed to tame my hypomania

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I get moderately hypo every spring. Think my meds keeps me from going completely off into the blue
P.S. Sounds like a great trip!

Indeed it was a great! Cycling around the green fields. Just the nature and the sound of the birds. Passing by those cute little Dutch villages...

Here's a pic of my bf (I put a sticker on his face to preserve his privacy lol) right on the border between countries

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Here is the link:

Bipolar Disorder, Light, and Darkness | PsychEducation

There's a lot more about light and sleep in that section; the link is specific to the "yellow" (trust me, they are orange ) glasses.

I ordered the kind supposed to fit over regular glasses and they are quite big for me. I think if you have a smaller face the regular ones may fit right over glasses.

I should also say I have not tried doing this with the computer or tv. Maybe at first but not for long enough to know if it made a difference.

Light affects me. Spring messes with my head. I realized this is the first Spring in four years that I am not depressed and or pregnant and I may actually plant something that survives.

I'm medicated that is the difference.

But I'm not doing too awesome anyway. I find myself restlessly uncomfortable on beautiful days. Just this morning I stepped out into the beautiful sunshine with fluffy white clouds and flowers in bloom and the thought that flitted through my head was "I hate my life".

I don't hate my life. I don't know why my brain is always thinking that.

Oh yeah I'm Bipolar

I do every spring. Last year I was going to the tanner and I realized months later it made things so much worse. I didn't do that this year, even though it helped with my depression last February and March.

Very cool pic! I was in Amsterdam a few years ago. It was in december, freezing! But a great city

Cool!
I'm gonna look for these glasses.
Since I live I do not live in the US maybe I can try to buy via Amazon UK.

Anyways, I really like the link and the explanation. I read already the book from Dr. Phelps "Why am I still depressed?", and loved it!

Thanks for the link Jen

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No problem. Dr Phelps was how I finally knew what was wrong with myself 13 years ago. The more I read his website the more I realized that my moods were not normal and that I needed help. I think in some ways he saved my life because until then I was just getting more and more hopeless and less and less interested in a future with what then was diagnosed as repeated severe atypical depressions. I remember spending most of a night reading that and saying "ohhhhhh". Turns out I'm 1 not 2 but it fit enough to get me diagnosed (and I think I was diagnosed as 2 for first few months)

Hehe, I also had many moments of "ohhhh" while reading his book.

I was suspecting that just being on the antidepressants for such a long time was making me manic and very depressed. But it was just a hunch.

And he talks exactly about how antidepressants can go really wrong for people with BPD. I was like: this guy is my savior!!!

I absolutely love him, even though I'd never met him lol. It's just that I could relate to the book and I really like this approach to the illness.

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Agreed. I was so happy to read his explanation of kindling and anti-depressants and understand why taking 11 different anti-depressants at a lot of doses over the past 3 years prior to diagnosis had made things worse and that I was not ACTUALLY losing my mind. I remember being told at the mood disorders clinic that I went to for a diagnosis that I didn't have to take ADs anymore and what a relief that was. I did go back on them several years later with lots of mood stabilizer but then it was completely different.

I've emailed him a few times and gotten really nice answers back. I also liked that.

I'm off the Zoloft now and I'll start taking lithium up from tomorrow (I'm a bit scared).

I think I'll send an email to Dr. Phelps to thank him

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I hope the lithium goes well for you. I was really afraid to start it but it was a great drug. It helped me a lot, especially with rapid cycling. Going off it was a really hard decision because when we had tried going off in the past I had nearly immediately had episodes. But I had my 3rd toxicity last year and so after 12 years it was time to say good-bye. Unless I was toxic pretty much the only side effects I had was thirst (and I gained weight but that's true with every psych drug I've been on pretty much). I did eventually have to take an additional med to maintain my electrolytes as it was flushing too much out of my system but that wasn't a problem either and also isn't very common.

It really did help me though.