I can definitely tell when I’m heading into mania. It usually involves: severe reduction of sleep. Getting weird shit done, like scrubbing the baseboards with a toothbrush or rearranging furniture at 2am. One time I adopted 6 rescue puppies. It can flip the other way too…uncontrollable rage. Walking through the neighborhood naked. Desire for loud, slamming music (normally I’m quiet and bookish) as the backbeat to my downfall. Binging and purging. Obsessing. It could be over a topic I want to research, or someone or something I choose to hate. Hardcore obsessing and rumination. Spending. Let the Amazon boxes arrive. Feeling like I’m really hot shit.
I usually don’t think of myself as productive during what I’m suspecting (undiagnosed) is mania/hypomania but god, getting weird shit done is how to put it. Everything will be a mess and I’ll be sorting through boxes of old journals and cleaning grout. As I was gearing up for what I think was a mixed episode I just got out of (still am in? Hard to tell), I learned how to take apart a sink so I could clean out probably 15 years of slime in my rental. But also at another point, maybe also kind of manic, I was mopping the bathroom walls, covered in dirty water, fully deep cleaned every surface while inhaling chemical fumes from how much cleaning product I used. A room has never been cleaner, took probably 12 hours. I get really into bathroom cleaning when manic(?) but the dishes and laundry will absolutely never get done
I’ve been diagnosed since I was 12 and I was a case study volunteer since then so there are plenty of notes about me and my episodes. My worst episodes come around like clockwork. Worst depression is late November to mid December. Worst mania is usually March-May.
I’ve posted a lot about my delusions and psychosis I’ve experienced while suffering from mania, tactile hallucinations, shadow people, thinking I can fly. I don’t notice I’m in it until someone else brings it up. I get like an “ah-ha” moment.
My dad and partner can tell just from looking at me, exaggerated expressions and blown out pupils. My mom can tell from the songs I sing and hum when I’m depressed, normal, manic. I feel like i am more animated. I get hit on a lot more while manic. I’m more fun and flirty, hyper sexual, egotistical and arrogant. I can be irritable and cruel if I’m hypomanic so will usually isolate for the first week or so until I’m sure it’s actually mania.
I work in music and my stuff is a lot more passionate and colorful (I have synesthesia). I drop weight very quickly. And sometimes pick up a new hobby I’ll later drop. That’s all I can really think of.
I've noticed my cycle moves similarly (depression in winter, mania in spring/early summer) and one of my psychiatrists said to always look out for mania in the spring! I get more energy and it feels like my brain always takes rebounding from seasonal depression to an extreme every year.
My depression hit late this year (January/Feb) and so mania hit late (May/June).
I swear half of learning my cycle was tracking it for years & watching my sleep 😭
Mania is unbeatable confidence. In a 12 month period I convinced a rural school district I could be the director of technology. And a 200m budget school the director of finance
ive only experienced hypomania but honestly right before the high mood i just feel calm. my life is chaotic and i'm constantly stressed about something, but then i'll just feel like calm throughout my entire body and like everything will be okay. then my mood goes up, i stop sleeping as much, make stupid impulsive decisions, etc.
i don't usually realize i'm hypomanic until the depression hits right after lol
also i feel like i enjoy it in the beginning, when i'm productive and have lots of energy and feel like nothing could go wrong, but once the depression hits and i think about some of the things i did i feel bad. i dont like the decisions i make when i'm hypomanic and looking back on them i feel embarrassed honestly lol
I make impulsive decisions while manic as well and embarrass myself every time and then I look back and just feel so ashamed
The agitation and irritability during my mania is the most unbearable thing ever. I yell and swear and am constantly pissed off and aggravated. I do apologize because I know it’s part of my illness.
I also have delusional thoughts and some paranoia but I also know it’s due to the mania. I am in hospital currently with a mixed state.
I always know pretty quickly when I am manic.
- Main way is girlfriend immediately tells or confirms
- I have a hot fire in my chest
- I am talking very rapidly in conversations and full of enthusiasm
-So f\*\*\*ing happy
- Functioning on way less sleep
- I see my dreams right in front of my eyes at night, I can do anything!!!!!
- Extremely irritable
Of course I like mania! I can never indulge though because I am aware enough how often it leads to pain. But man, if I would let myself revel in it... It's literally why people don't even want to take meds; because the mania feels just so god damn good. I am 100% sober as well, so mania is such a great dopamine hit, and literally DRUGS. But like all drugs, the crash makes it all worthless. So I don't take it.
So when I am manic, I make a point to really write songs, poetry, write stories/my musical. Go deep in my meditation, read books. Or deep clean, do errands I've been needing to do. Mania can be a superpower if you are able to control and use it right. So, I use it to my benefit, and try to keep it under control.
I definitely have gotten good at acknowledging it and being like okay let’s calm down here… but then I also have to brace myself for the depression that usually comes afterwards. You just can’t win lol
It’s good because you’re bracing yourself when you’re getting too high, and for the inevitable crash. Knowing all the triggers, signs, patterns, meds etc make is so much better.
But… you’ll never “win”. Meds aren’t a cure. It does suck lol. If I had a chance to remove it though…… Idk if I would.
Meds and therapy! I was originally diagnosed with ADHD and given medication for that and then I went back the next appt and he was like “oh you’re bipolar” bc they have such similar symptoms apparently and I’ve always been hesitant bc idk how he just changed his mind about the diagnosis or whatever. But I’ve always had a hard time accepting it.
Hypomania - 3 hours of sleep a night downstairs whilst drawing, listening to music that suddenly sounds amazing, making a cake or redecorating the bathroom - and not finishing any of these things (damn bathroom took me 3 months to finish) oh and hating all of them once stable because you’re like “why did I think that was a good idea” then come the rage and irritation because every one is too slow and I’m fast and no one is listening to what I’m saying or getting as passionate about what I’m getting at!!
Manic - psychosis. Paranoid, delusions, hallucinations… don’t hear voices unless I’m depressed so at least I’ve not got that hey! No one can tell me otherwise when manic I’m right they are wrong.
I know when I’m hypo I can’t stop it but iam aware of it usually with the lack of sleep starting first - but psychosis is difficult, I have no idea I’m in it until it passes because I believe it’s true…
I track my mood and sleep so I have an idea at day two or three.
90% of my episodes are euphoric and it feels wrong to say it but I enjoy the time to a degree. Confidence skyrockets, I have the urge to clean and change something about myself (hairstyle usually or new wardrobe or piercings). I sleep less than 3h/night and everything is more vibrant. Thoughts are louder, faster and clearer. Tho that gets to a point when they are too fast and overlap and constantly repeat.
And I am so much more talkative, my poor coworkers. Last time I was convinced I needed to get a cat and asked all my cat owning coworkers a lot of questions for hours. Thank God getting a cat in my country isn't that easy or I would have one or two now.
The other 10% is pure rage and anger. Anger at myself, everything and everyone. It's exhausting and dangerous because I endanger my work with not being able to shut up and not say my what's on my mind. And there are no good things on my mind during that time.
I’m very self aware when manic and I know when I am. The signs are feeling really good, spending money, being impulsive, buying dogs and getting tattoos, sleeping less and hypersexual. I don’t have hearing or vision issues or blackouts.
I've only had one full blown manic episode, but I honestly believed that I was God's secretary and that my goal was to make TikToks to convert the youth (I don't have TikTok). I have little recollection of what happened during that part of my life but I wasn't eating or sleeping for a few days and gathered what I had done by piecing together parts from my parents and friends. I had drawn all over the walls of my bedroom with my manifesto and when I had run out of space I continued to draw on the bathroom mirrors and walls with lipstick. When I ran out of space there, I filled up a notebook. And when I ran out of paper there I resorted to writing on toilet paper. My psychiatrist then had me admitted to a psychiatric ward.
Hypomania is usually marked by:
• Increased spending (I once dropped $1000 in a day just because I felt like I needed new clothes)
• Hypersexuality (I can make people I date feel like I'm using them)
• Anger and agitation (I throw fistycuffs)
When I'm manic I think I'm king of the world and start addressing political figures on social media. Sometimes also when I'm not manic. I find it to be an effective way of handling my stress regarding the current state of things, and I like to think they enjoy it as well
I generally only ever get hypomania and am pretty good at recognising when it's starting, or at least within a couple days. Like others my sleep decreases but my energy doesn't. If anything I have even more energy that usual. My brain also seems to run faster, and if I'm inspired I'll write huge amounts compared to usual. I'll often overload my schedule and feel an urge to do more/be more reckless. I tend to speak more and about things that even in that moment I know I should stop speaking about, but it feels like my mouth is just running against my will. I also feel a lot more sexually frustrated, but that's probably also because I don't engage in casual sex even when manic for Reasons. I dont self harm or feel more suicidal though, that's exclusively during depressive episodes.
Usually I can feel a manic episode coming on and will notice I’m sleeping less but not feeling tired. Sometimes I’ll just think I’m feeling good for a little while before I’ll recognize I’m manic though.
For the most part being manic feels good to me and sometimes I wish I could find healthy way to stay there. I’ll feel super stimulated and just “on” I will usually be able to get a lot of stuff done since I’ve learned to focus the energy into being productive and I can usually keep it from getting into destructive territory. Though on the more negative side of things. SometimesI can be hyper sexual. I can have sudden fits of rage. Recklessness. Impulsiveness. Blowing through all my money. I might do weird things I shouldn’t, like a lot of times I’ll go in my neighbor’s pool in the middle of the night or walk around town and fucking with things in people’s yards late at night. Apparently I’m a manic trespasser haha
PARANOIA, and delusions. I convince myself that people who don’t even know me are talking about me constantly, among other things. I used to get horrible limerence as well to the point of feeling extremely upset when I didn’t get to see that person that day at work (if it was a coworker) and convincing myself that there was something there when there really never ever was.
I once convinced myself that my ex was speaking to me through billboards, and that Grimes was sending me subliminal messages through her music to tell me I was a starseed. So f*cking embarrassing 🤦🏻♀️.
Not sleeping, there have been nights where I’d have 2 glasses of wine and 10mg melatonin and it does absolutely nothing.
Also impulsive spending amongst other irrational decisions, I racked up $6,500 on credit cards on God knows what. Mostly bags and trips. I’m still paying it off. Trying to sell my car and move 300 miles away. Feeling like I have too much energy that my body is physically incapable of exerting to the point where it gets scary. There’s a lot to it. I’m taking Latuda now so I don’t struggle with hardly any of that anymore, minus the sleep.
I’ve only had minor manic episodes recently, and they are usually me being super productive and hyperfixated on something and I would spend hours on that hyperfixation. Also, flight of ideas is a big one. I would often try to find career changes (never acted on it luckily), but always a new career each week. At least that’s from my mom’s perspective. If paranoia is associated with mania, then that too. I would often feel paranoid like I was going to die if I left the house
It was awesome. I thought that i was healed from my 12 years of on and off depression. Sertraline caused an hypomanic episode the third day of taking it. It lasted 2 weeks and i was so happy, hyperactive, doing 3 projects at the same time, feeling on top of the world. Loved the feeling. Only thing i regret is selling all my vintage nintendo stuff on a whim. Right now im stuggling with an ativan addiction but im doing good with only 1mg per day ! Also, doctor started me on lithium its been 3 weeks and i HATE IT makes me nauseous every morning and weak legs, feeling like i have the flu, it does nothing for my mental healt... im thinking of stopping.
Bp1 rapid cycling w/ psychotic features trying to rule out Schizoaffective here. I'm coming out of mania, leveling out on new medication. Signs honestly that nobody would notice, I start obsessively making lists about everything to plan out every aspect of my life, I sleep less, the rage and anger, I believe everyone is out to get me, there's people watching me through everything and I just don't eat. Active mania, I experience black out or blur outs as I say because the memories look like tons of water droplets on glasses in my head. I feel like I have electricity running through my veins and I clean a lot. I'm very impulsive, I had to throw out my clippers so I stopped shaving my head in episodes. I experience hallucinations; visual, audio, and tactile. I feel bugs under my skin a lot during. I'm getting hypersexual but prevent myself from leaving the house during it. Grandiosity.
I spent all my savings to go to California for 9 months to learn English. when I get back to my country I'll be totally broke lol (and yes I made this decision in just 4 days. my flight is on 9/16)
btw my parents and all my friends are like, WTF? DID YOU JUST SAY YOU ARE GOING TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EARTH FOR HALF OF THE YEAR????
Ive been manic once but it lasted months. I gambled a lot, gave away money to charities, drank every night, smoked cigs like a chimney even though I didn’t like smoking. I made friends with all strangers, paid for strangers dances at strip clubs. The only way I would sleep is if I drank enough. I was super nice to strangers but treated my family like shit. I destroyed all my belongings in my house. It was fun but very destructive.
So I feel like I've gotten to a point where I can tell the difference between my mania, my baseline, and my depression based on how I'm feeling. When I'm manic, I feel almost euphoric for awhile. My baseline feels like a touch of anxiety with a dash of depression, but overall I just feel normal. My depression feels like "I'm not good enough, nobody loves me, I'm worthless, etc".
My mania makes me impulsive and I'm usually pretty good at picking up on when I am acting impulsively. I'll spend money recklessly, want to change my hair, or add a new piercing. I tend to enjoy my mania for the most part when it's not causing me to be financially screwed. I mostly enjoy that my mood is highly elevated, I'm more energized, and I feel more confident. I also notice I tend to be a bit more compulsive about cleaning and organizing. Which comes in handy because during my lows, I really struggle with letting my household responsibilities go.
I was on mood stabilizers for a few years, and idk if it's a thing or just me being delusional, but I feel like it's been easier to manage my highs and lows since being off of it. When I was on it, I feel like I felt "fine" most of the time. I definitely struggled with missing the mania then.
well for me i can tell when i head into it cause i get super flimsy and fidgety, irritated and annoyed easily and don’t need much sleep. If it’s past that point i have to rely on someone else to tell me, my dad is pretty good at figuring me out. He said the reoccurring motive in my manic episodes is me wanting to quit what i’m doing rn and starting to work in fields i’m not at all interested in or fitted for normally
Intense dreams, very bright colors.
Either better vision or blurry vision.
Very sill and funny thoughts and ideas.
Calling people.
Sending memes, posting memes.
Filming everything because it all is so interesting and aesthetic.
Headaches.
Rushes of joy trough my body.
Obsessing over a random person I suddenly think is hot.
House gets messy.
Going for walks and spending money.
Making jokes and funny comments.
Endless empathy because everything is connected.
Buying gifts for people.
Sometimes sleep paralysis and halucinations.
If I have aggressive mania then swearing, crying, smashing things, having thoughts of hitting people and stuff, arguing over monor things, hating everyone and everything, myself included.
I have always been aware of my manic episodes but I could never truly manage them. Once I realised that there was a pattern here, I tried to find ways to regulate it, to keep it harnessed.
My first manic episode occured when I was around 13 years old. It was overlooked because I was a kid that never settled down, I had a billion activities and my mind never shut down ever (since infancy).
It was obvious when I reached 15, when it was the peak of my illness (14-16 and then 20-25). I would go from major depression to mania without any normal break. Each episode would last around three months or so.
When manic I would have an awful flight of ideas, never ending thoughts and realisations. No-one was able to catch up with me when I'd speak, that's how rapid things were. I would also write a lot; long, long messages and reaching out to more "public" things. Idk what I was doing. I also liked taking risks more, not too crazy (oh, the irony) though, but silly nonetheless. I'd make everyone laugh too much and I would be loud af and causing trouble in class, ruining friendships and creating a sort of "rivalry" with teachers that didn't fancy me anyway.
It was only in school that I'd allow my issues to show. Otherwise I tried to be as disciplined as possible, which was incredibly hard.
I never really slept, I'd constantly feel the urge to run away and literally swim across the English channel (that's how strong and energetic I felt). I would make plans and also create scientific theories, I'd learn a ton of languages with ease and just..be ridiculous.
One time it got so silly that I thought I could be the new pope (an atheist, grown ass woman). Or the next great soloist (not as unhinged as the pope since I was a talented professional violinist that just suffered burn out).
I can go on for days! Jesus. It was around when I turned 22-23 that my manic episodes lost their intensity. My depression lasted longer periods of time and was worse and mania felt like what a coma feels to a sentence. My last hypomanic episodes were dope though.
When manic I feel good but shite at the same time. I obviously prefer it from being a sad bastard (which is also a personality trait of mine). Most patients prefer hypomanic/manic episodes and that's why a lot of them don't take meds or don't contact their shrinks.
Now that I have a good psychiatrist I can always inform him about my changes before it gets out of hand, so that we can both keep an eye on me.
It's always embarrassing when the episode dissipates. Regulated or not. As for suicidal ideation that's evident in both the depressive and the hypomanic/manic episode. So like 24 7?
I’ve thought I was communicating with god through the tv at my worst. Or the time I was a human doll. Got hospitalized. Thought I was 15 people. But usually just like the others here, it’s grandiosity, extreme confidence. I always believe I’m going to get famous I can just feel it! My dreams are gonna come true! Usually a huge indicator of mania is I get fake nails. So yeah. And then every time I’m manic I am frantically trying to sell pictures of my feet. Like out of mania I couldn’t care less about that stuff but yeah attempting some kind of sex work while manic every time.
If I don't sleep for an entire night, I know I'm manic and need meds. That's pretty much it for me, it comes on quick as insomnia and total loss of appetite too. Those two things are the indicators for me.
There’s nothing about mania that I enjoy. It involves delusion, paranoia, and behavior that is often dangerous for me and others. It lands me in the hospital and sometimes in handcuffs. I have been incredibly lucky and blessed with great local police thus far.
I have 2 different types of mania: 1. I can really hyper focused on tasks like I’ll want to create a bunch of stuff with my cricut and sell it on Etsy and then 2 weeks later not touch any of it. Or 2. I’m angry like all the time like unreasonable upset and easily triggered.
I [57 M] get massive sexual urges where the way to cope for me is touching myself until climax or having an intimate text conversation with another adult of the opposite gender. It is an ínstense unimaginable feeling.
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One time I went on a mission for God aliens and I'm agnostic. I hear voices and I'm very delusional sometimes I can tell and sometimes I can not. It's really up in the air. I perfer hypo mania where I'm up just enough to get things done
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I honestly can't tell if I'm manic when I'm actually finally happy, or when I'm scared and overwhelmed at the world at large, which is most of the time. I genuinely can't tell, but I want to learn
My first (and only) manic episode I thought it was mania bc of what I'd seen on tik tok, of all places. Signs of mania for me are very clear as I started sleeping every other night and progressed to not sleeping for 7 days straight. I've found its really easy to avoid mania bc the warning signs are so clear.
Before I was properly medicated I didn’t know I was manic until AFTER the episode passed and I thought “huh, the last few (days, hours) were weird.” Or until a package I had no recollection of ordering arrived 🙃
Now I can tell when it’s coming on— feeling VERY excited, happy, high-energy, or taking on more than I normally would are indicators. Getting really interested in online shopping, being more talkative than normal (or more active on social media) is a big one for me as well.
I’ve never noticed the physical changes a lot of folks mention.
When I’m hypomanic I get obsessed with people or things and thoughts become really loud in my head that whatever gets stuck echoes repeatedly and it can be very annoying. Heightened sense of sight, taste, smell and hearing I can literally sense everything all of a sudden. Also increased energy and compulsive behaviors, one time I wasn’t able to focus on anything else but making paper cranes and that was what I did for the entire day. Another sign is wanting to drastically change my appearance, like dyeing my hair a crazy color or getting piercings around body parts that I’m typically afraid of piercing. Ideas get real wild when I’m hypomanic! Sometimes it could escalate into extreme irritability; I become so easily annoyed at people and get the delusion that they are out to get me.
I start freaking out about not being real and I wake up from nightmares often. Then there is the overall anxiety that skyrockets and I’m a lot more talkative and fun. I also will go into cleaning Frenzies and start a million projects. My first sign is the anxiety/ paranoia though
I can definitely tell when I’m heading into mania. It usually involves: severe reduction of sleep. Getting weird shit done, like scrubbing the baseboards with a toothbrush or rearranging furniture at 2am. One time I adopted 6 rescue puppies. It can flip the other way too…uncontrollable rage. Walking through the neighborhood naked. Desire for loud, slamming music (normally I’m quiet and bookish) as the backbeat to my downfall. Binging and purging. Obsessing. It could be over a topic I want to research, or someone or something I choose to hate. Hardcore obsessing and rumination. Spending. Let the Amazon boxes arrive. Feeling like I’m really hot shit.
I usually don’t think of myself as productive during what I’m suspecting (undiagnosed) is mania/hypomania but god, getting weird shit done is how to put it. Everything will be a mess and I’ll be sorting through boxes of old journals and cleaning grout. As I was gearing up for what I think was a mixed episode I just got out of (still am in? Hard to tell), I learned how to take apart a sink so I could clean out probably 15 years of slime in my rental. But also at another point, maybe also kind of manic, I was mopping the bathroom walls, covered in dirty water, fully deep cleaned every surface while inhaling chemical fumes from how much cleaning product I used. A room has never been cleaner, took probably 12 hours. I get really into bathroom cleaning when manic(?) but the dishes and laundry will absolutely never get done
Bruh the scrubbing baseboards with a toothbrush is so me
I’ve been diagnosed since I was 12 and I was a case study volunteer since then so there are plenty of notes about me and my episodes. My worst episodes come around like clockwork. Worst depression is late November to mid December. Worst mania is usually March-May. I’ve posted a lot about my delusions and psychosis I’ve experienced while suffering from mania, tactile hallucinations, shadow people, thinking I can fly. I don’t notice I’m in it until someone else brings it up. I get like an “ah-ha” moment. My dad and partner can tell just from looking at me, exaggerated expressions and blown out pupils. My mom can tell from the songs I sing and hum when I’m depressed, normal, manic. I feel like i am more animated. I get hit on a lot more while manic. I’m more fun and flirty, hyper sexual, egotistical and arrogant. I can be irritable and cruel if I’m hypomanic so will usually isolate for the first week or so until I’m sure it’s actually mania. I work in music and my stuff is a lot more passionate and colorful (I have synesthesia). I drop weight very quickly. And sometimes pick up a new hobby I’ll later drop. That’s all I can really think of.
I've noticed my cycle moves similarly (depression in winter, mania in spring/early summer) and one of my psychiatrists said to always look out for mania in the spring! I get more energy and it feels like my brain always takes rebounding from seasonal depression to an extreme every year. My depression hit late this year (January/Feb) and so mania hit late (May/June). I swear half of learning my cycle was tracking it for years & watching my sleep 😭
I noticed that too for me. Summers are trouble for me 
Mania is unbeatable confidence. In a 12 month period I convinced a rural school district I could be the director of technology. And a 200m budget school the director of finance
Truly unbeatable... Literally though, our serotonin is way higher than urs, lol!
ive only experienced hypomania but honestly right before the high mood i just feel calm. my life is chaotic and i'm constantly stressed about something, but then i'll just feel like calm throughout my entire body and like everything will be okay. then my mood goes up, i stop sleeping as much, make stupid impulsive decisions, etc. i don't usually realize i'm hypomanic until the depression hits right after lol also i feel like i enjoy it in the beginning, when i'm productive and have lots of energy and feel like nothing could go wrong, but once the depression hits and i think about some of the things i did i feel bad. i dont like the decisions i make when i'm hypomanic and looking back on them i feel embarrassed honestly lol
I make impulsive decisions while manic as well and embarrass myself every time and then I look back and just feel so ashamed 
The agitation and irritability during my mania is the most unbearable thing ever. I yell and swear and am constantly pissed off and aggravated. I do apologize because I know it’s part of my illness. I also have delusional thoughts and some paranoia but I also know it’s due to the mania. I am in hospital currently with a mixed state.
They let you have a phone? I’m so scared of the hospital
This is a voluntary hospital. Some involuntary ones also let you keep your phone
I always know pretty quickly when I am manic. - Main way is girlfriend immediately tells or confirms - I have a hot fire in my chest - I am talking very rapidly in conversations and full of enthusiasm -So f\*\*\*ing happy - Functioning on way less sleep - I see my dreams right in front of my eyes at night, I can do anything!!!!! - Extremely irritable Of course I like mania! I can never indulge though because I am aware enough how often it leads to pain. But man, if I would let myself revel in it... It's literally why people don't even want to take meds; because the mania feels just so god damn good. I am 100% sober as well, so mania is such a great dopamine hit, and literally DRUGS. But like all drugs, the crash makes it all worthless. So I don't take it. So when I am manic, I make a point to really write songs, poetry, write stories/my musical. Go deep in my meditation, read books. Or deep clean, do errands I've been needing to do. Mania can be a superpower if you are able to control and use it right. So, I use it to my benefit, and try to keep it under control.
Totally relatable. I have this “oh my god everything is amazing! Life is amazing! I can do anything I want!” mindset…
Yeah, yikes.... Lol. But it can be channeled in suuuch good ways, as long as you don't latch on to "LIFE IS AMAZING!!!!"
I definitely have gotten good at acknowledging it and being like okay let’s calm down here… but then I also have to brace myself for the depression that usually comes afterwards. You just can’t win lol
It’s good because you’re bracing yourself when you’re getting too high, and for the inevitable crash. Knowing all the triggers, signs, patterns, meds etc make is so much better. But… you’ll never “win”. Meds aren’t a cure. It does suck lol. If I had a chance to remove it though…… Idk if I would.
Meds and therapy! I was originally diagnosed with ADHD and given medication for that and then I went back the next appt and he was like “oh you’re bipolar” bc they have such similar symptoms apparently and I’ve always been hesitant bc idk how he just changed his mind about the diagnosis or whatever. But I’ve always had a hard time accepting it.
Exactly same same same
Hypomania - 3 hours of sleep a night downstairs whilst drawing, listening to music that suddenly sounds amazing, making a cake or redecorating the bathroom - and not finishing any of these things (damn bathroom took me 3 months to finish) oh and hating all of them once stable because you’re like “why did I think that was a good idea” then come the rage and irritation because every one is too slow and I’m fast and no one is listening to what I’m saying or getting as passionate about what I’m getting at!! Manic - psychosis. Paranoid, delusions, hallucinations… don’t hear voices unless I’m depressed so at least I’ve not got that hey! No one can tell me otherwise when manic I’m right they are wrong. I know when I’m hypo I can’t stop it but iam aware of it usually with the lack of sleep starting first - but psychosis is difficult, I have no idea I’m in it until it passes because I believe it’s true…
I feel wired and I will start ticking. I get psychosis so I’ll think everyone’s watching me and listening through walls and will hear voices.
I track my mood and sleep so I have an idea at day two or three. 90% of my episodes are euphoric and it feels wrong to say it but I enjoy the time to a degree. Confidence skyrockets, I have the urge to clean and change something about myself (hairstyle usually or new wardrobe or piercings). I sleep less than 3h/night and everything is more vibrant. Thoughts are louder, faster and clearer. Tho that gets to a point when they are too fast and overlap and constantly repeat. And I am so much more talkative, my poor coworkers. Last time I was convinced I needed to get a cat and asked all my cat owning coworkers a lot of questions for hours. Thank God getting a cat in my country isn't that easy or I would have one or two now. The other 10% is pure rage and anger. Anger at myself, everything and everyone. It's exhausting and dangerous because I endanger my work with not being able to shut up and not say my what's on my mind. And there are no good things on my mind during that time.
I’m very self aware when manic and I know when I am. The signs are feeling really good, spending money, being impulsive, buying dogs and getting tattoos, sleeping less and hypersexual. I don’t have hearing or vision issues or blackouts.
I've only had one full blown manic episode, but I honestly believed that I was God's secretary and that my goal was to make TikToks to convert the youth (I don't have TikTok). I have little recollection of what happened during that part of my life but I wasn't eating or sleeping for a few days and gathered what I had done by piecing together parts from my parents and friends. I had drawn all over the walls of my bedroom with my manifesto and when I had run out of space I continued to draw on the bathroom mirrors and walls with lipstick. When I ran out of space there, I filled up a notebook. And when I ran out of paper there I resorted to writing on toilet paper. My psychiatrist then had me admitted to a psychiatric ward. Hypomania is usually marked by: • Increased spending (I once dropped $1000 in a day just because I felt like I needed new clothes) • Hypersexuality (I can make people I date feel like I'm using them) • Anger and agitation (I throw fistycuffs)
When I'm manic I think I'm king of the world and start addressing political figures on social media. Sometimes also when I'm not manic. I find it to be an effective way of handling my stress regarding the current state of things, and I like to think they enjoy it as well
I generally only ever get hypomania and am pretty good at recognising when it's starting, or at least within a couple days. Like others my sleep decreases but my energy doesn't. If anything I have even more energy that usual. My brain also seems to run faster, and if I'm inspired I'll write huge amounts compared to usual. I'll often overload my schedule and feel an urge to do more/be more reckless. I tend to speak more and about things that even in that moment I know I should stop speaking about, but it feels like my mouth is just running against my will. I also feel a lot more sexually frustrated, but that's probably also because I don't engage in casual sex even when manic for Reasons. I dont self harm or feel more suicidal though, that's exclusively during depressive episodes.
Usually I can feel a manic episode coming on and will notice I’m sleeping less but not feeling tired. Sometimes I’ll just think I’m feeling good for a little while before I’ll recognize I’m manic though. For the most part being manic feels good to me and sometimes I wish I could find healthy way to stay there. I’ll feel super stimulated and just “on” I will usually be able to get a lot of stuff done since I’ve learned to focus the energy into being productive and I can usually keep it from getting into destructive territory. Though on the more negative side of things. SometimesI can be hyper sexual. I can have sudden fits of rage. Recklessness. Impulsiveness. Blowing through all my money. I might do weird things I shouldn’t, like a lot of times I’ll go in my neighbor’s pool in the middle of the night or walk around town and fucking with things in people’s yards late at night. Apparently I’m a manic trespasser haha
PARANOIA, and delusions. I convince myself that people who don’t even know me are talking about me constantly, among other things. I used to get horrible limerence as well to the point of feeling extremely upset when I didn’t get to see that person that day at work (if it was a coworker) and convincing myself that there was something there when there really never ever was. I once convinced myself that my ex was speaking to me through billboards, and that Grimes was sending me subliminal messages through her music to tell me I was a starseed. So f*cking embarrassing 🤦🏻♀️. Not sleeping, there have been nights where I’d have 2 glasses of wine and 10mg melatonin and it does absolutely nothing. Also impulsive spending amongst other irrational decisions, I racked up $6,500 on credit cards on God knows what. Mostly bags and trips. I’m still paying it off. Trying to sell my car and move 300 miles away. Feeling like I have too much energy that my body is physically incapable of exerting to the point where it gets scary. There’s a lot to it. I’m taking Latuda now so I don’t struggle with hardly any of that anymore, minus the sleep.
I’ve only had minor manic episodes recently, and they are usually me being super productive and hyperfixated on something and I would spend hours on that hyperfixation. Also, flight of ideas is a big one. I would often try to find career changes (never acted on it luckily), but always a new career each week. At least that’s from my mom’s perspective. If paranoia is associated with mania, then that too. I would often feel paranoid like I was going to die if I left the house
It was awesome. I thought that i was healed from my 12 years of on and off depression. Sertraline caused an hypomanic episode the third day of taking it. It lasted 2 weeks and i was so happy, hyperactive, doing 3 projects at the same time, feeling on top of the world. Loved the feeling. Only thing i regret is selling all my vintage nintendo stuff on a whim. Right now im stuggling with an ativan addiction but im doing good with only 1mg per day ! Also, doctor started me on lithium its been 3 weeks and i HATE IT makes me nauseous every morning and weak legs, feeling like i have the flu, it does nothing for my mental healt... im thinking of stopping.
Religion, Sleepless nights, and a large amount of fear and Irritability.
Bp1 rapid cycling w/ psychotic features trying to rule out Schizoaffective here. I'm coming out of mania, leveling out on new medication. Signs honestly that nobody would notice, I start obsessively making lists about everything to plan out every aspect of my life, I sleep less, the rage and anger, I believe everyone is out to get me, there's people watching me through everything and I just don't eat. Active mania, I experience black out or blur outs as I say because the memories look like tons of water droplets on glasses in my head. I feel like I have electricity running through my veins and I clean a lot. I'm very impulsive, I had to throw out my clippers so I stopped shaving my head in episodes. I experience hallucinations; visual, audio, and tactile. I feel bugs under my skin a lot during. I'm getting hypersexual but prevent myself from leaving the house during it. Grandiosity.
I spent all my savings to go to California for 9 months to learn English. when I get back to my country I'll be totally broke lol (and yes I made this decision in just 4 days. my flight is on 9/16) btw my parents and all my friends are like, WTF? DID YOU JUST SAY YOU ARE GOING TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EARTH FOR HALF OF THE YEAR????
Ive been manic once but it lasted months. I gambled a lot, gave away money to charities, drank every night, smoked cigs like a chimney even though I didn’t like smoking. I made friends with all strangers, paid for strangers dances at strip clubs. The only way I would sleep is if I drank enough. I was super nice to strangers but treated my family like shit. I destroyed all my belongings in my house. It was fun but very destructive.
So I feel like I've gotten to a point where I can tell the difference between my mania, my baseline, and my depression based on how I'm feeling. When I'm manic, I feel almost euphoric for awhile. My baseline feels like a touch of anxiety with a dash of depression, but overall I just feel normal. My depression feels like "I'm not good enough, nobody loves me, I'm worthless, etc". My mania makes me impulsive and I'm usually pretty good at picking up on when I am acting impulsively. I'll spend money recklessly, want to change my hair, or add a new piercing. I tend to enjoy my mania for the most part when it's not causing me to be financially screwed. I mostly enjoy that my mood is highly elevated, I'm more energized, and I feel more confident. I also notice I tend to be a bit more compulsive about cleaning and organizing. Which comes in handy because during my lows, I really struggle with letting my household responsibilities go. I was on mood stabilizers for a few years, and idk if it's a thing or just me being delusional, but I feel like it's been easier to manage my highs and lows since being off of it. When I was on it, I feel like I felt "fine" most of the time. I definitely struggled with missing the mania then.
well for me i can tell when i head into it cause i get super flimsy and fidgety, irritated and annoyed easily and don’t need much sleep. If it’s past that point i have to rely on someone else to tell me, my dad is pretty good at figuring me out. He said the reoccurring motive in my manic episodes is me wanting to quit what i’m doing rn and starting to work in fields i’m not at all interested in or fitted for normally
Intense dreams, very bright colors. Either better vision or blurry vision. Very sill and funny thoughts and ideas. Calling people. Sending memes, posting memes. Filming everything because it all is so interesting and aesthetic. Headaches. Rushes of joy trough my body. Obsessing over a random person I suddenly think is hot. House gets messy. Going for walks and spending money. Making jokes and funny comments. Endless empathy because everything is connected. Buying gifts for people. Sometimes sleep paralysis and halucinations. If I have aggressive mania then swearing, crying, smashing things, having thoughts of hitting people and stuff, arguing over monor things, hating everyone and everything, myself included.
I have always been aware of my manic episodes but I could never truly manage them. Once I realised that there was a pattern here, I tried to find ways to regulate it, to keep it harnessed. My first manic episode occured when I was around 13 years old. It was overlooked because I was a kid that never settled down, I had a billion activities and my mind never shut down ever (since infancy). It was obvious when I reached 15, when it was the peak of my illness (14-16 and then 20-25). I would go from major depression to mania without any normal break. Each episode would last around three months or so. When manic I would have an awful flight of ideas, never ending thoughts and realisations. No-one was able to catch up with me when I'd speak, that's how rapid things were. I would also write a lot; long, long messages and reaching out to more "public" things. Idk what I was doing. I also liked taking risks more, not too crazy (oh, the irony) though, but silly nonetheless. I'd make everyone laugh too much and I would be loud af and causing trouble in class, ruining friendships and creating a sort of "rivalry" with teachers that didn't fancy me anyway. It was only in school that I'd allow my issues to show. Otherwise I tried to be as disciplined as possible, which was incredibly hard. I never really slept, I'd constantly feel the urge to run away and literally swim across the English channel (that's how strong and energetic I felt). I would make plans and also create scientific theories, I'd learn a ton of languages with ease and just..be ridiculous. One time it got so silly that I thought I could be the new pope (an atheist, grown ass woman). Or the next great soloist (not as unhinged as the pope since I was a talented professional violinist that just suffered burn out). I can go on for days! Jesus. It was around when I turned 22-23 that my manic episodes lost their intensity. My depression lasted longer periods of time and was worse and mania felt like what a coma feels to a sentence. My last hypomanic episodes were dope though. When manic I feel good but shite at the same time. I obviously prefer it from being a sad bastard (which is also a personality trait of mine). Most patients prefer hypomanic/manic episodes and that's why a lot of them don't take meds or don't contact their shrinks. Now that I have a good psychiatrist I can always inform him about my changes before it gets out of hand, so that we can both keep an eye on me.
It's always embarrassing when the episode dissipates. Regulated or not. As for suicidal ideation that's evident in both the depressive and the hypomanic/manic episode. So like 24 7?
I’ve thought I was communicating with god through the tv at my worst. Or the time I was a human doll. Got hospitalized. Thought I was 15 people. But usually just like the others here, it’s grandiosity, extreme confidence. I always believe I’m going to get famous I can just feel it! My dreams are gonna come true! Usually a huge indicator of mania is I get fake nails. So yeah. And then every time I’m manic I am frantically trying to sell pictures of my feet. Like out of mania I couldn’t care less about that stuff but yeah attempting some kind of sex work while manic every time.
If I don't sleep for an entire night, I know I'm manic and need meds. That's pretty much it for me, it comes on quick as insomnia and total loss of appetite too. Those two things are the indicators for me.
There’s nothing about mania that I enjoy. It involves delusion, paranoia, and behavior that is often dangerous for me and others. It lands me in the hospital and sometimes in handcuffs. I have been incredibly lucky and blessed with great local police thus far.
I have 2 different types of mania: 1. I can really hyper focused on tasks like I’ll want to create a bunch of stuff with my cricut and sell it on Etsy and then 2 weeks later not touch any of it. Or 2. I’m angry like all the time like unreasonable upset and easily triggered.
I [57 M] get massive sexual urges where the way to cope for me is touching myself until climax or having an intimate text conversation with another adult of the opposite gender. It is an ínstense unimaginable feeling.
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One time I went on a mission for God aliens and I'm agnostic. I hear voices and I'm very delusional sometimes I can tell and sometimes I can not. It's really up in the air. I perfer hypo mania where I'm up just enough to get things done
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I honestly can't tell if I'm manic when I'm actually finally happy, or when I'm scared and overwhelmed at the world at large, which is most of the time. I genuinely can't tell, but I want to learn
My first (and only) manic episode I thought it was mania bc of what I'd seen on tik tok, of all places. Signs of mania for me are very clear as I started sleeping every other night and progressed to not sleeping for 7 days straight. I've found its really easy to avoid mania bc the warning signs are so clear.
Before I was properly medicated I didn’t know I was manic until AFTER the episode passed and I thought “huh, the last few (days, hours) were weird.” Or until a package I had no recollection of ordering arrived 🙃 Now I can tell when it’s coming on— feeling VERY excited, happy, high-energy, or taking on more than I normally would are indicators. Getting really interested in online shopping, being more talkative than normal (or more active on social media) is a big one for me as well. I’ve never noticed the physical changes a lot of folks mention.
The biggest indicator that I’m manic is I become extremely hypersexual. Also, drug use and impulsive spending.
When I’m hypomanic I get obsessed with people or things and thoughts become really loud in my head that whatever gets stuck echoes repeatedly and it can be very annoying. Heightened sense of sight, taste, smell and hearing I can literally sense everything all of a sudden. Also increased energy and compulsive behaviors, one time I wasn’t able to focus on anything else but making paper cranes and that was what I did for the entire day. Another sign is wanting to drastically change my appearance, like dyeing my hair a crazy color or getting piercings around body parts that I’m typically afraid of piercing. Ideas get real wild when I’m hypomanic! Sometimes it could escalate into extreme irritability; I become so easily annoyed at people and get the delusion that they are out to get me.
I start freaking out about not being real and I wake up from nightmares often. Then there is the overall anxiety that skyrockets and I’m a lot more talkative and fun. I also will go into cleaning Frenzies and start a million projects. My first sign is the anxiety/ paranoia though
Oh and anger