Hypomania

First question, well it's hard to say. I suggest you air your grievances with a mental health professional. Second question is no I don't think so.

Why do you think you have bipolar? If you don't mind explaining.

 

Episodes

According to the DSM-IV-TR, a hypomanic episode includes, over the course of at least 4 days, elevated mood plus three of the following symptoms OR irritable mood plus four of the following symptoms:

• pressured speech; rapid talking
• inflated self-esteem or grandiosity;
• decreased need for sleep;
• flight of ideas or the subjective experience that thoughts are racing;
• easy distractibility and attention-deficit (superficially similar to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder);
• increase in psychomotor agitation; and
• steep involvement in pleasurable activities that may have a high potential for negative psycho-social or physical consequences (e.g., the person engages in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business investments). [2]

In the hypomanic state, people may feel like they can't slow their mind down, and that the speeding thoughts are crafted exceptionally well. Some examples are speaking or writing in rhyme or alliteration without planning it first; quick responses to people talking; or the ability to improvise easily on the spot.
Another type of behavioral response sometimes included as a symptom is emotional flattening or blunted affect. A person may seem unusually cold, uncaring, or arrogant, showing little or no emotional responsiveness.[citation needed]
People in hypomanic episodes do not have delusions or hallucinations. They do not lose touch with reality in the sense that they know who they are and what is real. What can be a problem, however, is that they tend to overestimate their capabilities and fail to see the obvious risks involved in their ventures. For example, if they are in business, they may suddenly decide to expand in a way that is not really practical or set up schemes for which they are ill prepared.
Other forms of less inhibited behavior include reckless driving, gambling, spending sprees and sexual adventures. They may also have lots of new ideas but do not follow them through. They are often very jolly to be with but can quickly become very impatient or unpleasant if they cannot get what they want.


Wikipedia

 

This is a pretty accurate description. Personally I find hypomania may last for weeks, even months. Once it lasted nearly a year. That's when my shrink usually beins calling it a mania.

There's also this feeling of being invincible as well as utterly charming and beautiful. Personally, I love 'em and miss them when I'm stable too long. They are, however, unstable moods and a depression can come crashing down right on the heels of one--not fun. I would get it checked out. Writing notes of what you've been experiencing is sometimes helpful because concentrtion can be problematic and tangential thinking is common.

 

I understand the difference is that hypomania does not have a trigger. It just happens regardless of what is happening in your life. I identify with hypomanic episodes and a number of the symptoms, but I can usually identify something that puts me in that state and it only ever lasts a few days.

 

Hypomania, like depression, if it's part of bipolar, usually has a trigger, some stressor, whether an unhappy or a happy event; it only has to be a stressor. One woman I know became immediately, severely manic upon hearing that her best friend had just been murdered. She came to herself in the hospital 3 days later with no recollection of how she got there. That doesn't mean the mood is situational. It just means stress can set those little neurotransmitters in the brain to malfunctioning and can do it pretty quickly. Often people don't realize what the trigger is--I often don't--but if you think back carefully, sometimes with the help of a therapist who knows you well, you can often figure it out.

Hypomania can result from sleep deprivation as well--not the serious, psychosis-producing kind of sleep deprivation that everyone responds to, but just working on a deficit of sleep.

Note: If you already have depressive episodes, one mania or hypomania changes the diagnosis to bipolar. Get it checked out. And remember 4 days is a minimum, not a maximum.

 

Oh wow. Now I'm worried. Well if it happens I again I'll be more attentive to my behaviour/thought patterns and after that ask someone about it. Yeah the thing is if it has been hyopmania I still don't believe it has lasted more then 4 days, certainly not a week. Going that long with inflated self esteem and reduced need for sleep would be particularly out of the ordinary for me.

 

Hnnh. I might have this.

It'd explain a LOT.

 

I had a Hypomanic episode for a week. Man, was it ever great. Inflated sense of purpose, importance and identity. My thoughts were always racing, stunning revelations about the world, increased ability to learn and speak.

Didn't last, but it was fun while it did.

I also sent out countless e-mails to Harvard and other University professors trying to get feedback about all these profound left-field ideas I was having.. Some replied, some didn't. Most of the theories I developed were unfounded and half-baked, but not irrational.

Yeah I don't think you'd have any question you were in a hypomanic state if you were in one. It's really freakin' obvious.

 

Hello dragon I ope you are well!

My Dada has bipolar,

One of the biggest symptoms in my OP is a lack of sleep.

I would check it out with a mental health prof. if I were you. They might have to experiment but they could give you a better diagnosis then we could.

We of the internet

good luck.

 

OK to start have you been clinically depressed I forget.

 

I have type-2 Bipolar and so well acquainted with Hypomania. My hypomanic episodes can last up to about 2 weeks. I'll sleep less, eat less, feel like ideas are coming fast and furious like a geyser out of my head, and often feel compulsively giddy.

 

ENTPs have ADHD, not bipolar.

But sure, you can be bipolar.

 

I was dx-ed with ADD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Depression, but that was all thrown out and replaced by the Bipolar II dx a year ago.

 

My psych (wonderful South Asian guy with a wacky sense of humor) told me that Bipolar II is very commonly misdiagnosed as Depression and the hypomanic episodes mis-diagnosed as ADD, problems with self-control, and/or anxiety disorders.

 

That's not entirely correct, but pretty accurate.

If it lasts over a week, it's a manic episode.

Always a trigger for mania, depression, or my personal favorite, mixed episodes, though it's not always what you would think. Examples:

Stress
Not enough sleep
Too much sleep
Too much caffeine
Drugs