Comments on: Reader Comment: Bipolar Hypomania

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:04:42 +0000

Hi David and Julie,

Again I am faced witht the the confusion of whether my past experiences of feeling happy and hopefull in the present and for the future were hypomania or just me not being depressed. I am struggling with this question because part of me is very confused. I first thought that when I met my wife I must have been hypomanic, but it was at a time when a lot of good change was happening in my life and I first became a Christian and was getting involved in new friendships and social activities for the first time in my life at age 23. I think it is safe to say that this would make any person experience joy and happiness. But now as I look back at this experience I realize that I did not make any stupid or rash decisions in the first year and there were definitly some depressed episodes mixed in there at a few points. But I truly feel I was coming into my own. I did end up moving in with my at the time girlfriends families house, but we had dated for a whole year and I did not want to live alone in my grandmothers house because my famiily had to find a smaller place to live. I know tha the second year of living with my wife (girlfriend) at the time that I did begin to quiet down a bit and she got to see the more reserved and maybe sometimes depressed side of me. I also became very controlling and a bit ocd about certain things. I have always struggled with depression and ocd. Only recently have I had anxiety. I really am not sure if all of this was merely me coming out of a lifelong depressecd state and then slowly going back, or if it was really hypomania. Again, it all happened quite gradually and was not a few days of happy, and then back to being sad like it would seem hypomania would have with it. Pleas let me know what you guys think. Thankyou.

By: david ross

david ross — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:05:05 +0000

Thanks for the thoughtful response, Julie! I certainly wasn’t expecting that. My only comment is that a lot of the things you describe, I have heard described as “manic” not “hypmanic”. Maybe there’s no clear line between them, it’s all just a sliding slope from one to the other.
.
The thing is, I’m married to someone with bipolar, so I only get to observe from the outside. She is mostly either depressed or in a mixed state. sometimes, she’s just great (like right now). but when I met her, she was a manager of a workpace of 10, working on a phd, and had a large and active social life! I was like, wow, what a woman. So I attributed all that positive energy to a hypomanic phase that sadly morphed into depression then mania. That was 4 years ago, and we’re still picking up the pieces.
.
Another reason for my comment is that when she was manic, some guy lent her a book called “the hypomanic edge” which talked about the amazing advantages in business of being hypomanic. It was probably B/S. I never read it, and I never found out who this mysterious “friend” was (don’t think I want to know), but the point was that he claimed that hypomania could be used to your advantage. I think I’m as skeptical as you however.

Hi David,

Thank you for the excellent original question! Bipolar disorder is all about emotions- so it makes sense it can be so confusing. As for the hypomanic edge- I actually agree that we can use hypomania to our advantage is we understand it and manage it very, very carefully while it’s happening. Most people can’t do that at all! When you give a thirsty person a cup of nectar- they want it to last forever!

I met my ex’s when hypomanic and then they had to deal with the depression as well. Now that I have my books, etc, I meet people when I’m stable and I do all I can to stay stable. Then people know that what they see is what they get! Four years is a long time to pick up the pieces- but it’s not abnormal. I am glad you guys are working on it together. The successfull management of bipolar disorder can actually make a relationship a lot stronger as each person has to be aware of their moods and where they are coming from. That takes work! I wrote Loving from my experiences of living with a man with bipolar disorder- while I had it myself!

She is lucky to have you! julie

By: Sheri Weinberg

Sheri Weinberg — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:28:26 +0000

I completely agree with your assessment of hypomania. My problem is with dysphoric hypomania. I can’t count (or don’t want to) how many bad decisions or scrapes I’ve been when experiencing these two manias.

By: Zoeyjane

Zoeyjane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:03:30 +0000

I don’t have specifically low downswings afterward a hypomanic phase, but I do have what seems to be a marked difference in motivation and mood. I get less anxious, which is a great thing, but that extends across the board to housework, paying work, eating and cooking. Which can make parenting a bit of an issue.

I think you addressed this perfectly!