[Bp1978]

What are your symptoms of hypomania?

Trying to decide if I am in one…

[Soupe du jour]

Mine tend to include many to all of the usual criteria. It might be more on the elated side, or more on the irritable end. Or, fluctuate throughout the day, depending on how it is triggered. Lower mania (hypomania) for me usually includes:

• Talking a lot, often fast, and usually loudly. Perhaps some aggression in my voice or flat out over the top enthusiasm/joy. If writing, writing A LOT.
• Being so enthusiastic about my own thoughts/conversation, that I barely pay attention to others'. I might talk over them. My yapping usually changes direction (topics) quickly. I often get what I call "Star of the Show Syndrome" and maybe get a little to into storytelling or trying to teach people things.
• Higher physical energy and endurance. My thoughts go faster than usual and like above, jump from one thing to another.
• I am more impulsive and disinhibited than usual. I might say or do things I would normally not. If just hypo, they may be a bit over the top, but not scarily so. In any case, people DO notice, though strangers may not realize it's an illness. They may see it as personality oddity or emotional change. Judgement and negative responses from others are frequent. I can get in some trouble.
• I can't sleep (or not much), but particularly because I don't want to.
• Many things start to seem brighter, more interesting, more exciting (or so to the opposite end that I have anger outbursts or anxiety freak outs). I feel more "in the groove" and "at one with God".
• Psychomotor agitation (moving around fast, can't sit still, fidgety). Fast, fast, fast. No patience. My heart beats fast, I might breathe fast.
• Grandiosity (I feel like what I'm doing I'm doing GREAT. That everyone else is less intelligent, creative, hot, than I am. That my potential has increased, greatly.)
• Hypersexuality, sometimes.
• Feel even less pain than usual. [I have a history of accidentally injuring myself because of being a little reckless, not paying attention, anger outburst. Yet I don't feel the pain that much.]

Sometimes I'm oblivious to being in hypomania, especially in the beginning. I might rely on someone (usually Hubby or a pdoc/tdoc) to tell me I'm hypomanic. Or, if it goes on a while or gets worse, I might find insight. Or not. Before my diagnosis, I had virtually zero insight.

Full blown mania, on the other hand, includes all of the above but exponentially worse. It can elicit fear and become very dysfunctional.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Racing thoughts, loud thoughts, intense energy with little need for rest, hyper sexuality, nonstop talking with flight of ideas, impulsively particularly with spending money!

[*Beth*]

Don't have time right now, but I will def be back to this.

[MuddyBoots]

It's like everything got loud and fast. My thoughts are comparable to a mashup of NASCAR, bumper cars, and a mosh pit. I do things without so much as finishing the thought about it (impulsivity). I feel awesome, like I've been injecting pure God into my veins. I become hypersexual, impatient, even more distractible than usual, and get this feeling that I could do absolutely anything without failure. I have all the best ideas, and all the best ideas are mine. I keep looking in the mirror because I'm hot s**t. I become a really aggressive driver so I usually have to turn my keys over to someone I trust.
Then when things get too intense I'll cross over into mania , being scary and I can't stop even if I wanted too.

[*Beth*]

Hypomania. Colors are gloriously brilliant and music is exalting. The environment is an exiting, magical place - and there are messages for me coming from the universe. The messages are from God, or a higher power that is extremely creative and Knows All. My mission in life is to teach others, to awaken others to the magnificent glory of the universe. I am compelled to restore justice, in a humanitarian sense. Everyone seems to be moving awfully slowly; clearly they are not enlightened by the creative force that I am blessed with! I want to share my abundance!

Then something or someone annoys me. Maybe someone grabs a parking spot I was going to use. I feel annoyed and agitated, then I think about how stupid so many people are, how unaware. I may yell at the person who took the parking space. Usually though, I'll shoot the person a really dirty look. Or I'll stare at the person until they look away ( dangerous thing to do).

Next I'm angry. REALLY angry! Outraged! I'm online posting bizarre things, anti-social things. It's in this stage of a manic episode when I'll throw things or break things (I once broke apart an entire desk because it wasn't going the way I wanted it to).

Grandiosity, hypersexuality...and I'm still on my God-given mission. And on it goes until something stops it. Medication, twice the police (and I was taken by extremely unsympathetic cops to the ER).

So that's the general idea of my experience.

I don't seem to have the sleeping symptom, the one when manic people sleep only a few hours, or not at all. However, I have been on meds for decades. It's possible that the meds knock me out so I have to sleep.

I think I've covered my own mania pretty well. I'm sure I left a few things out, but I've given you the general idea.