[mossanimal]

I'm curious how other people appear outwardly when hypomanic. Hyper? Spaz? Withdrawn but intense... bubble about to burst? I would be the last.... intense. I'm more of an introvert in most social situations but when I'm hypomanic and in the right situation I get into the forced speech and get very intense.. too serious about things that I'm currently researching and planning. I will overtalk people when I'm excited. But I don't think anybody would see me as very hyper.. I mean I'm not bouncing around and talking non-stop and singing (I do by myself). So .. I don't know. Is your 'manic self' a manifestation of your personality type.. or do you become unrecognizable to those around you?

[bipolar angel]

I do agree,it is different for different people. I speak faster-i'm a fast talker normally but in manic state im really fast/intense speech. I can over talk people,repeat myself . I wake up more at night,have more energy-can get lots of stuff done**but i also tend to compulsive shop/spend,too. I also worry-i'm normally a big worrier-but i worry even more,to point I get paranoid. Yes,i do think i become annoying to people. Im also hypersensitive/emotional,so that I am easily hurt by criticism.

Interesting. I posted earlier a similar post regarding when to be concerned. It is easier I think to know the signs - but do we recognise them when they are happening to us?

What I do know is that I get very gregarious when I am fully hypomanic. I become the life of the party persay. I become very talkative. I get highly energetic. The down side is I get irritable (which is the symptom I am now keeping watch for). There of course are other symptoms of hypomania but these are likely the personality changes that others might readily see.

[mossanimal]

Originally Posted by bipolar angel

I do agree,it is different for different people. I speak faster-i'm a fast talker normally but in manic state im really fast/intense speech. I can over talk people,repeat myself . I wake up more at night,have more energy-can get lots of stuff done**but i also tend to compulsive shop/spend,too. I also worry-i'm normally a big worrier-but i worry even more,to point I get paranoid. Yes,i do think i become annoying to people. Im also hypersensitive/emotional,so that I am easily hurt by criticism.

Yeah I think when I DO talk.. it is definitely faster and forced. I just don't speak a lot. It's more like a storm in my mind. I'm not sure how evident it is to people. Although my wife senses it when I start pacing about when I should be doing something helpful. I also tend to do more joking, rhyming and puns and stuff.

Anyway... I've seen Youtube videos of people who say they are hypomanic.. and they are sooo hyper. To me that reminds me more of my early Adderall days than my quiet storm hypomania.

[Shamrockkid88]

You are a mind reader! I've been trying to think of a way to word a post regarding the same thing. When I'm hypomanic I have the rush of speech like I need to throw up every word out of my mouth I have a stutter which only really comes on when I feel like that. My brothers and mom realize it but like justafriend306 said i also get very irritable I tend to not be able to sit still jump from one thing to the next so I've been learning to keep that in check

[mossanimal]

Originally Posted by Shamrockkid88

You are a mind reader! I've been trying to think of a way to word a post regarding the same thing. When I'm hypomanic I have the rush of speech like I need to throw up every word out of my mouth I have a stutter which only really comes on when I feel like that. My brothers and mom realize it but like justafriend306 said i also get very irritable I tend to not be able to sit still jump from one thing to the next so I've been learning to keep that in check

Yeah.. I become an *** when people can't keep up or understand something. When I'm normal my wife often comments on how patient I am when teaching somebody something. Like my kids. And then.. it changes.

[Shamrockkid88]

Exactly brother I can totally relate when I'm normal that all goes away. But then it comes back sometimes but I just need to learn to control this better although it is difficult

[mossanimal]

Also... I read somewhere that people who are fully Bipolar I tend to have very extroverted personalities in general. And people who are more in the Bipolar II spectrum have more introverted personalities. Which could be due to the more frequent depression episodes I guess.

[Shamrockkid88]

I'm certainly more introverted when I'm depressed I turn in and don't want to talk to anyone or anything I'll still laugh and smile to put on a "face" that nothing's wrong but inside it's not good. But when I'm hypomanic I the exact opposite but that's BP II for ya I guess

[mossanimal]

Originally Posted by Shamrockkid88

Exactly brother I can totally relate when I'm normal that all goes away. But then it comes back sometimes but I just need to learn to control this better although it is difficult

Meds (Lamictal) haven't kept me from getting depressed... but my irritation and impatience have definitely been curtailed. So far. The Wellbutrin I'm on right now has greatly increased my energy... back to 4-6 hours sleep.. but without the impatience and irritability. So far. Mania season is just about here...

I become a hyperactive spaz that can't sit still. I have so much energy I bounce off the walls talking super fast about all sorts of nonsense and jump from topic to topic. I also have a very short fuse.

[Shamrockkid88]

My fear is the summer that's when I get really up but hopefully the lithium will keep that at bay and that's great that you have Wellbutrin. I've noticed a decrease in irritability and my patience has gotten some what better

[mossanimal]

Originally Posted by escapeartist

I become a hyperactive spaz that can't sit still. I have so much energy I bounce off the walls talking super fast about all sorts of nonsense and jump from topic to topic. I also have a very short fuse.

I'm like this without the talking. I want to crawl out of my skin. My wife's red flags are activated when I start randomly doing pushups. And I can't sit down. But still... it's more.. intense rather than hyper. Like a snow leopard pacing in a cage.

Good question -- how we look to other people. I've been trying to get a picture of this about myself. AT this point in my life, I think I'm aware of when I get hypomanic. BUT I've looked everywhere for a video, or movie showing REAL RAGE. I want to know what bipolar rage LOOKS LIKE and SOUNDS LIKE. I used to do that a lot. I'm amazed that no movie or video shows this. YouTube has a lot of people talking, talking ABOUT rage -- but not DOING their rage. A couple of movies show what purports to be rage. But, imho, the actors do not do a very good job. Plus, they are men. I want to see a woman's rage appearance. The two movies are "Mister Jones" with Richard Gere, and "A Streetcar Named Desire," with Marlon Brando. Gere's rage scene is really low-key! All he does is briefly kick a tire!!!! Brando's character's rage scene is too short to really get a lot out of it.

Does anyone have a recommendation of a movie or video showing bipolar rage? Or any rage, for that matter.

[ByMySide]

The main symptom that I look for is irritability and increased sensitivity to criticism and feedback.

[dshantel]

I get really irritable and increased sensitivity. My mind starts the racing, which is just a cycle of thoughts about certain things usually. I also become very obsessed with things, usually this is when the shopping happens because all I can think about is having whatever it is that I'm obsessed with. In the past I have been hyper-religious and become hyper-sexual. Then there's the paranoia and delusions.

[Sad Mermaid]

Originally Posted by dshantel

I get really irritable and increased sensitivity. My mind starts the racing, which is just a cycle of thoughts about certain things usually. I also become very obsessed with things, usually this is when the shopping happens because all I can think about is having whatever it is that I'm obsessed with. In the past I have been hyper-religious and become hyper-sexual. Then there's the paranoia and delusions.

I wonder why "possibly bipolar" is in your signature - you seem to meet the criteria for BPI

[Sad Mermaid]

Last time I was able to come up with a rhyming sentence. At baseline I do not have that ability. I saw the mention of "rhyming" above in the thread and went "oh, yeah!"

[dshantel]

Originally Posted by Sad Mermaid

I wonder why "possibly bipolar" is in your signature - you seem to meet the criteria for BPI

The therapist and pdoc I was seeing before I moved said they don't like to just slap labels on people so if you are bipolar and go there your files just say something like mood disorder with cycling or depressive episodes with mood swings. Idk, it's weird. My doc never actually said, " you have bipolar" but my therapist always gave me papers for mania and hypomania or talked about my mood swings. I need to get my file from them actually. Now that I'm thinking of it.

[BipolaRNurse]

When I'm hypo I talk over everyone, clean everything in sight, and can't keep still for love nor money. I also become hypersexual and do that rhyming thing, usually with new lyrics for old songs. I crack myself up with those! It's almost always Christmas music and I make it up as I go along. I cannot do this when NOT hypomanic. I don't know if being an extrovert has anything to do with it, I'm bipolar 1 and I become really intense during manic episodes, which include playing to the crowd. Interesting thought.

[xRavenx]

I get wound up, speedy. I don't always talk a mile a minute (then again, I'm from the metro NYC area, so the most of us speak pretty fast), but it's pretty common for me to talk A LOT when hypo. My family basically tells me to shut up, because I go on and on. I jump from topic to topic and idea to idea. I try to get people involved with all kinds of plans, and when they aren't on top of it, or if they avoid me/shun my ideas, then I can get very irritable. Sometimes I get euphoric and stuck in fantasy land.

I was also told as a child that I day dream a lot, and sometimes I would have periods of time where I would have big ideas, so maybe some of that is personality. It wasn't uncommon for people to comment on my creativity and writing. I still write a lot, especially when hypo. Oh, and I tend to be very intense when hypo and draw people in who are. This can be a good thing or a very bad thing.

[rwwff]

I'm quite introverted and deliberately reclusive. Very little social contact... I don't really have good insight into what my hypo vs full looks like, but my feeling is that when hypo most of my physical safeties come off, but I still have some sense of what is possible. Speech, irritability as one might expect, but I avoid situations where it could initiate. If possible, I'll walk away from people rather than explain anything to them.

I will say on full, I hope to never peer through that gate again, and I can't imagine surviving passage through the battlefield that was briefly laid before me.

[Unrigged64072835]

I'm a quiet and shy type, but I like small groups of people as well. When I'm hypo I get involved in something and focus on that like a laser beam. I've created some pretty cool stuff, but then I get depressed and chuck it all.

[Theresa1991]

I was always wondering about this, so thanks for starting the Topic.

By now I am diagnosed as bipolar NOS and my t hesitated with this diagnosis for a Long time because she said she couldn't SEE my hypo.

I am a pretty controlled Person and can hide stuff from others pretty well. When hypo I start talking more than usual but I tell funny stories so noone ever complained. I start moving restlessly which has been pointed out to me a few times. I can become very aggressive and sensitive or very happy (right now on the aggressive side). I can also become very focused or unable to Focus. My thoughts start racing. Usually I do a few Projects at a time and finish nothing. I start to have increased Appetite or None at all (right now None). I come up with creative Projects and lose interest in work or become obsessed with it. I won't sleep much anymore but as I am single noone notices. I tend to put myself in angerous situations, have Trouble listening, will do more drugs and drinking. Alone at home I run and Dance and sing and one sure sign for me to be going hypo is changing languages. I am German and all of a sudden I will start talking to myself in English, Spanish, Portuguese and a few more.

Anyway, many of These behaviours I seem to be keeping to myself and not let them Show too much. Sometimes People tell me that I seem to be moving around a lot or very emotional about my ideas. But that is it. Noone can really see the whirlwind inside.

[usehername]

Originally Posted by justafriend306

Interesting. I posted earlier a similar post regarding when to be concerned. It is easier I think to know the signs - but do we recognise them when they are happening to us?

What I do know is that I get very gregarious when I am fully hypomanic. I become the life of the party persay. I become very talkative. I get highly energetic. The down side is I get irritable (which is the symptom I am now keeping watch for). There of course are other symptoms of hypomania but these are likely the personality changes that others might readily see.

Have you heard of WRAP?