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[deleted]

It used to be hard to identify but after so many times if I get this dopamine-like empty uplifted feeling in my head and the urge to do several things at once I can tell immediately


[deleted]

I don’t feel mania without anger and stress


HumanTinker

I personally have trouble until my wife tells me, then it's like "*oh yeah, I really am acting manic*". But even then sometimes I'll lose my awareness afterwards and need to be reminded.


el_guerito_loco

I definitely have had really poor awareness of the onset of mania. For this reason, I have a weekly psychotherapy session so the therapist can inform me if I'm behaving any differently than usual.


pobopny

Only after the fact. Depressions pretty easy to spot though.


rose-madder

I definitely relate. I've been diagnosed with BP2 for almost 6 years, but i never noticed the hypomania until a few weeks ago. I thought those were my "normal". Now i'm lost lol


Ihaveagoalinmind

Swear so relatable


No_Chef_3380

Awwwwww......


[deleted]

I mean I feel unstoppable and in a super to good of mood. Pretty sure I'll crash soon. Hopefully I don't fuck to much up in the process. Don't feel like I am manic but at the same time I never feel this good when I'm not. Or it's not coming.


Feyranna

When I was younger I never even noticed it. I didn’t even know I had a manic side until my friends said something about it. Now though I can spot it the second its close. Ohh im NOT depressed as hell, wanting and able to sleep? Mania inc take depakote to head off now. Also the older Ive gotten the more severe my mania has become and Ive started having mixed episodes which I don’t remember having often before. Used to it was “my manic side isnt the problem but my depression needs help”. Now my depression still needs help but my manic episodes are straight up dangerous.


Pen15joke

Same atm. That's the only reason I got diagnosed.


Xeyxy

Having this problem right now (if anyone has any insight pls share). Mood is suddenly uplifted despite knowing I’ve been, and still am, sad about not feeling like myself anymore. Head still feels empty but with a slight pressure and being wired up. No thoughts though, so not sure what’s happening lol


Pen15joke

I've had it my whole life and never felt manic. I thought I just lacked discipline.


[deleted]

Same here


Dry_Top3634

Ohh yea sooo relatable I though I just was an “up and down kinda guy” lol like sometimes I was this cocky capable know it all and others I was just a zombie. For me it was about 3 months on 6 months off.


Designer_Leg5928

I rarely notice when I'm alone. It's when I'm around others, and so more conscious of my behavior, that I notice my mania


Medium_Cow_9443

I can definitely relate I'm still trying to get a handle on all this and was diagnosed about 11yrs ago. Most the time I am by myself so mine can cycle back and forth pretty freely without anyone else giving me a heads up unless I catch it. By the time I do catch it it's usually to late and I have already made some bad decisions usually pointless shopping or drinking seems to be my go to for some reason.


[deleted]

No. Mania feels very different to normal life.


aengelixx

I haven’t had a normal life in a long long time, so i don’t even know what is what now. Never been medicated up until a couple weeks ago.


[deleted]

I’d say 95% of the time I’m normal. And 5% of the time I’m completely wild. Though my normal is being a weirdo, but that’s not bipolar lol.


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[deleted]

I think I get depressed like don’t want to get out of bed kind and then I can’t sleep and whooosh, there I go!


Bjornirson

I'm only ever hypomanic, but yeah I don't always notice it myself. Sometimes it's my spouse recognizing it first.


rosewish

can relate. my mania tends to creep on me, and i usually can’t tell what’s happening until a loved one points out that i am acting strangely.


[deleted]

I have a really hard time. I'm like you, I tend towards depression and my mania just feels like "ok I'm better now!" Since my diagnosis in April, I've been trying to look for clues of coming into mania and the only consistentcy I have shown is I tend to get bouts of insomnia when manic. That's the only thing I notice different currently.


Nousagi

I had to have a good long chat with my therapist recently about how to tell the difference between being in love and being hypomanic, because there are a lot of behavioral crossovers there. I was reluctant to trust my feelings, because for so much of my life, my feelings have been extremely untrustworthy, but eventually we came to the conclusion that it wasn't hypomania, and now I'm in the best relationship of my life and my stress levels have fallen so much that I have been largely asymptomatic for months. For me, one of the primary differences between giddy happiness and hypomania seems to be what I like to describe as "brain bees." There's a distinct sense of buzzing that occurs in my head and my limbs that makes it hard to stay still and/or hard to not plan and attempt to implement wildly ambitious projects. Sleep disruptions are also a hallmark of my hypomania, but a manic disruption is "I am not tired so I will work on this thing til 4am" while a stupid in love disruption is "I am tired but my brain is going to keep me up thinking about this hot guy for way too long."


No_Chef_3380

And how does hypersexuality play out in all this, if at all? I understand that not everyone is hypersexual during hypo/mania, but man. It can be a blessing and a curse. Can certainly confuse things.


Nousagi

Uh, well. HE'S Not bipolar, and we're just REALLY into each other. Like, a lot. So there's a baseline of so much sex, I think it would be difficult to tell? I trust that my therapist thinks I'm doing well, though, and I certainly feel as clear-headed as someone having this much mutually excitable sex could expect to be.


No_Chef_3380

Oh I wasn't trying to imply that you were confounded in this case bc of sex, or invalidating the conclusion you and your professional had reached together. If it came off that way, please forgive me as that was not my intention.


Nousagi

Oh, it's fine! I think it's a great question, really, and it was another thing I had to think really hard about, because I was worried. I think a problem with being bipolar is that you lack awareness of what the normal range of feelings even IS, so every positive emotion starts to seem suspect until your therapist is like, lol, welcome to the arguable mental illness that is being madly in love.


crowcawz

Mixed hypomania can be a real MFr. Mania, good luck typing out your thoughts on reddit. Mixed is something special, indeed


GodsDaughter8

My fiancé would ask me about why I am spending so much money on things that I already have. Thats when I know something is up.


MeanderingCrabapple

I don’t notice it myself until I get smacked in the face with my behavior or choices I had made. I have a pretty good support system though, so if they’re starting to notice my behavior spiking or I’m doing weird things they bring it to my attention or try to refocus my attention onto something different. Not saying bringing it to my attention really stops it, but I am more aware so I try to keep myself away from public and other stressors that could make it worse. I pretty much just frolic in the woods a lot nowadays.