What are your (hypo)manic, mixed, and depressed episodes like?

When I am (hypo)manic, I tend to feel jittery and I talk a mile a minute. I am also distractable and buy too much stuff.

When I am depressed, I sleep way too much. In fact, sleep IS my coping mechanism!! I also lack any real motivation to do anything and I don't do a good job of pushing myself to do healthy things.

I can't comment too much on mixed episodes since my last one (that I am aware of) was in summer and fall of 2015. It was what led to my diagnosis. But if I try to remember, I think I was getting like 2-4 hours a night, I felt restless, I was agitated, and I had suicidal thoughts. It was quite bad.

(Hypo)manic- I get really bad racing thoughts, feeling a little too great, have too much energy,
Depressed- feel empty/numb, get urges to hurt myself and suicidal thoughts
Mixed- racing thoughts+all the energy in the world+agitation+suicidal thoughts+impulsivity esp. when it comes to self harm

My husband just said something about my sleeping too much. I don't feel depressed, but this may be an early sign? I am newly diagnosed bipolar II, so I am just starting to see patterns. I never thought that my "good" times were hypomania, even though I shopped too much and was hypersexual at those times. I was only focussed on the depression. I also didn't see the times when I was agitated and irritable as possibly mixed episode. The depression is the pit of hell. All I want to do is die, and every thought is about being doomed to some sort of hell on earth (i.e. global warming, planet ending scenarios). There is also self harm when I get stressed during that time.

In my depression experience, which is now decades-long, the sleep thing can definitely be a big part of it--as others have mentioned above. So, I would watch it. Maybe think about doing a little mood charting, just to see if you think there is anything there to notice.

I hope you remain depression-free!!

Hypo--super-pressures speech, pressured writing, especially, racing, euphoric.

Mixed--agitated, irritable beyond belief, derealization, panic attacks/floods of anxiety and terror, sense of impending doom. Dysphoric mania, basically.

Depressed--sad, hopeless, suicidal, exhausted, won't move or eat or do anything, try to sleep life away, won't talk to anyone or email or text or interact with anyone.

Hypo: Terrific!

Manic: Scary

Mixed: Hell

Depressed: More Hell

If you look at the DSM-5, you could check off pretty much every single symptom in the criteria symptom lists.

Impulsivity and disinhibition can be my worst manic symptoms. Extreme energy is always present, especially so before taking sedating medications. Yes, I had insomnia, but no I didn't care. Cops have been called or were threatened to be called. Hypomania is simply "mania light" for me. Not so dangerous or scary, but still noticeable and problematic. I can be either elated or downright Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil during all stages of mania. Before proper treatment, I had extended hypomanic periods of several weeks and even months, that sometimes reversed before full blown mania and sometimes went on to full blown (usually if stressors continued). Most full blown episodes included at least brief psychosis. My full blown periods were generally shorter than the lengthy hypomanic periods, except the ones that led to psychiatric hospitalizations. Very often, my full blown manias turned extra ugly by transitioning into manias with mixed features. My longer psychoses were usually when this happened. When in mixed states, I can be more of a danger to myself than in any other mood state (recklessness, violence to things/self, calls for help --meaning not quite suicide attempts).

I have had only four long-term severe depressions in my life, compared to more hypomanic to full-blown manic episodes than I can remember. I have experienced many milder depressive periods, the number of which I can't remember. Some were short and some long. The usual symptoms applied. Hypersomnia or just not leaving my bed is notable during my depressions. This has led to hospitalizations, job loss/quitting, and such. High anxiety, low motivation, and marked malaise is notable in milder episodes. Depressions with mixed features are as bad as my manias with mixed features, and have turned psychotic.

My medication cocktail isn't perfect at preventing episodes (especially hypomanic/manic), but it cuts them short, especially with emergency intervention.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Misfit Toy My husband just said something about my sleeping too much. I don't feel depressed, but this may be an early sign? I am newly diagnosed bipolar II, so I am just starting to see patterns. I never thought that my "good" times were hypomania, even though I shopped too much and was hypersexual at those times. I was only focussed on the depression. I also didn't see the times when I was agitated and irritable as possibly mixed episode. The depression is the pit of hell. All I want to do is die, and every thought is about being doomed to some sort of hell on earth (i.e. global warming, planet ending scenarios). There is also self harm when I get stressed during that time.

For many years I thought keeping a mood chart was pointless. Then my therapist asked me to please just give it a try. I agreed while thinking "how can I get out of this?". But, I drew out a nice chart and recorded my moods in the mornings/moods in the evenings. Well, to my surprise there was a pattern. And seeing that pattern was validating and helpful. So if you aren't doing so already, I recommend doing a mood chart for at least one month.

The last few days I have also been thinking of keeping a mood chart. Observing a pattern might be validating and helpful to me.

Depressive state: I sleep a lot, lose pleasure in most (if not all) activities, less active, no longer experience joy, gravitate towards depressing songs and movies (although this is a tendency of mine at baseline...but it's even more so when depressed), have difficulties focusing, hopelessness, isolation.

Hypo: increase in activity, obsess over certain activities, increase in sex drive/goes online to find sex partners, less sleep than usual (although Seroquel helps with this), sometimes irritable and say things I don't mean

Mania: feels invincible, racing thoughts, agitation, impulsivity, poor decision making, "chatter" in my head before sleeping, feeling unstoppable, overactive, goes beyond hypomania where symptoms are more pronounced

Mixed: sometimes delusional/paranoid, mood is extremely dark, SI, hopelessness, impulsivity, racing thoughts, constant need to talk to others about how scared I am that the state of mind will never end, sleep problems, irrational ideas, becomes extremely difficult to function, put of control anxiety, feeling trapped

Depressed: sleep to escape, feel weighed down, empty, numb, no energy in my limbs, hard moving around, hopelessness, no pleasure in things, feel doomed, feel like it will go on forever, numb, apathetic, hard taking showers, doing laundry, staying clean, eat junk, going out is an ordeal, wish for death . . .

Manic: euphoria, feel light as air, boundless energy, soaked in pleasure, all my cells singing, gregarious, adventurous, excellent stamina, decreased need for sleep, happy happy happy!