Have you ever tried to induce hypo/mania when depressed?

I've never tried because I'm scared of inducing a mixed state. Though... I might actually try it *once* just to see what happens. (It's probably not worth it, but you don't know until you try!)

[Wander]

Tried a couple of times but failed. My depression was too strong or I didn't do the right thing or use the right drugs. Saying what I said on your other post I would be too scared to try to mess with my mental state again.

[moremi]

Yes I have.

[JustJace2u]

I've been so depressed this week, I'm not sure anything will help.

Yes....I took some Wellbutrin a few months back without an AP or stabalizer and started to rise to hypo then came to my senses and stopped and got back on an AP.

Long lasting depression just isn't acceptable and we are so hard to treat when depression is at its worst. I've gotten desperate and hope I won't be tempted again but if I have a 6 month long depression again,desperation could win over logic again....I don't fool myself into thinking I've got this whole thing perfectly figured out. Neither do my doctors.

[bioChE]

How exactly would you try to induce mania?

Originally Posted by bioChE

How exactly would you try to induce mania?

If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you. Better not to know such things.

[franz kafka]

I don't have control over getting manic or depressed. It just happens.

Originally Posted by franz kafka

I don't have control over getting manic or depressed. It just happens.

I can induce mania with Anti-depressants. If I stay up too late and don't force myself to sleep and use lots of caffeine I can trigger an episode. Allowing myself too much stress can induce mania. It's good that you can't control it. I've been very depressed and pounded AD's and went up pretty fast. I do not recommend this method....it's very dangerous. It's not a guarantee and I've tried and failed but I do have a rather sure fire method I can use now if I get desperate. I feel confident I can spring from depression next time if I do choose (this could be grandiose thinking but I'm pretty confident).

[franz kafka]

Originally Posted by ElsaMars

I can induce mania with Anti-depressants. If I stay up too late and don't force myself to sleep and use lots of caffeine I can trigger an episode. Allowing myself too much stress can induce mania. It's good that you can't control it. I've been very depressed and pounded AD's and went up pretty fast. I do not recommend this method....it's very dangerous. It's not a guarantee and I've tried and failed but I do have a rather sure fire method I can use now if I get desperate. I feel confident I can spring from depression next time if I do choose (this could be grandiose thinking but I'm pretty confident).

If I had access to SSRI's I'm sure I could induce mania, but I don't. I hadn't thought of that.

[Gabyunbound]

I've never actually done it but have been REALLY tempted to stop my meds to see if that would induce hypomania. I've been afraid to though, in part because I'm afraid it would make the depression even worse instead of bringing on hypomania. Ohhhh but wouldn't it be nice!!

[wildflowerchild25]

I have through the use of ssri without a mood stabilizer or ap on board. It was great for like two weeks and then took a very scary turn into mixed with psychosis. I wouldn't change it again. I have no control over the episode once it starts and it always ends mixed for me.

I did get hypomanic through the use of the supplement Sam-e once for like a week and it was very nice and didn't end mixed. But it never worked again.

[boogiesmash]

Yea how do you induce it? Double up on Wellbutrin or another ad?

You could end up psychotic....I don't recommend it. And stopping things like AP's can actually trigger a delusional episode (my experience shows). So be on the lookout and work with a professional on any med changes.

My husband worked in a state hospital and Wellbutrin was a commonly stockpiled and abused drug with "market value" on the units. I think some of us just have a stronger reaction to it. I need to be on an AP and either depressed or stable to take it and take a small dose. I've realized how much of my life I've lived and somehow stayed alive while manic and delusional. Some feel people in my state should be locked up. It's stigma and rather offensive. Something is only delusional because it's not a commonly held belief. By my standards a vast majority of people are delusional and don't need to be locked up. Just like someone who is a jerk shouldn't automatically be locked up either.

[MissCathryn]

Wow. I'd like to know how to induce anything that will get me out ofbq depressed state

It doesn't work for everyone or depression could be cured. Some of us have a stronger reaction to AD's.

[bioChE]

Originally Posted by ElsaMars

If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you. Better not to know such things.

I've got plenty of ways that I know of, this thread is interesting because of the multiple methods mentioned.

As you've said, it's a dangerous path to walk down. Not something I'd do myself. I'm too scarred by the manic episodes I've had to ever do it intentionally. And there's no way someone could "induce" hypomania with a guarantee that it wouldn't develop into full-blown mania.

For me, all I have to do is smoke weed consistently for a while. At some point I'd be hypo. If I kept going and stopped suddenly, full blown mania is one possibility.

[still_crazy]

I don't think I could induce mania. Nor would I want to. Maybe hypomania. My manic episode was so terrifying towards the last 2, 3 weeks that I shudder to think of another one. That and the shock "treatments" to make it stop weren't exactly pleasant or good for my intellectual abilities. Looking back, I wonder what possessed these shrinks to just go ahead and scramble my brain with shock the very night I was hospitalized.

Having said all that, I do think I'm sensitive to stimulants, especially since my early 20s, when my crazy became full on Bipolar I. Maybe a Ritalin would lift me up to hypomania? An actual amphetamine would probably be too much, what with the "psychotic features" and all. I take a lot of Wellbutrin (400mgs), and sometimes I feel a bit too stimulated (not euphoric, just...wired, I guess) when I forget a mood stabilizer dose.

This is an interesting thread, btw.

[Wild Coyote]

Certain SSRIs tend to induce hypomania for me, which usually turns into a mixed episode, which is very unpleasant.

I can intensify hypomania if I do not force myself to get sleep, get too much light exposure, etc., when hypomanic. This is different from inducing hypomania from depression. I do often get "mixed" if I lose a lot of sleep a few nights in a row. (BP II though.)


WC

[~Christina]

Self induced often are much much worse than Bipolar cycling on its own.

[RomanJames2014]

Sometimes when I try to induce my hypo mania, I simply go off my meds and listen to music that might be fun and try to look at stuff that will make me laugh. If I start laughing then i tend to get highly hypo manic... also animals. Those tend to get me up there and i love it.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

Yea I would do this with substance abuse. I was addicted to suboxone for four years and last year I had a stint with stimulants. I would take them and get hypo. I loved it . Now that I'm stable I feel just flat. It sucks.

[Sad Mermaid]

Not intentionally, but it did happen when I used Elavil to combat depression. It is tempting to do so intentionally now, but I resist the temptation. I can fully understand, though, how one could be tempted and do it.

[Wander]

Yesterday my pdoc and I talked about my recent, sudden switches into euphoric mania and how they seem to be a way for my brain to dissociate completely from the horror of PTSD induced mixed mania. It is truly amazing that my brain can pull this off without my conscious will to protect me from SI in the darkness.

Still, I cannot do this by will and wouldn't wish the hell i was going through to have my brain have to switch like that. Guess it is a kind of stress induced mania. Not possible, that I can think of, to switch on by will though.

Again, I have found it dangerous to try to induce mania or make it worse as the flip side, mixed and or depressed are often the result.

Originally Posted by Wander

Yesterday my pdoc and I talked about my recent, sudden switches into euphoric mania and how they seem to be a way for my brain to dissociate completely from the horror of PTSD induced mixed mania. It is truly amazing that my brain can pull this off without my conscious will to protect me from SI in the darkness.

Still, I cannot do this by will and wouldn't wish the hell i was going through to have my brain have to switch like that. Guess it is a kind of stress induced mania. Not possible, that I can think of, to switch on by will though.

Again, I have found it dangerous to try to induce mania or make it worse as the flip side, mixed and or depressed are often the result.

This is my finding too.