How To Spot Hypomania in Yourself? Signs?

[ILADVOCATE]

I know its easy to tell someone they are hypomanic. But what about yourself? And that full blow mania is frightening. But hypomania can seem like "fun" but it quickly spirals into full blown mania. We've all experienced it. Including myself. And aren't always self aware. But how can we stop it before it gets worse?
For myself signs of hypomania (remember its complex because I have schizoaffective)
include:
contacting people I hardly know, feelings that "I love everyone" (elation), hypersexuality, overspending, feelings of paranoia (people who are annoying become "threatening"), doing passive aggressive or hostile pranks (in the past), self medicating with natural remedies (in the past), drinking large amounts of caffeinated beverages (in the past), overstating my important/thinking I could "change the world", unable to concentrate on tasks but becoming obssessed with something unimportant.
Right now I am to the point where I can spot this and catch it before it gets worse. Can you? What happens with you?
Can you stop it? And could you learn?

[Razz69]

Hi,
I just found out that I may be mildly bipolar.  I went and talked to a phsycologist last week and she scared me to death!  The one good thing was that she told me she had heard all of the crazy symptoms I shared with her before and was actually able to put a diagnosis to it.  Now that I have had a chance to let the diagnosis sink in, I am soooo scared.  I totally understand what you were writing.  I tend to feel like I am outside of reality doing things that i shouldn't or wouldn't normally be doing....now that I have read up on hypomania, I guess this is what I have.  I am very worried about this.  My doctor is going to start me on Abilify this week(the lowest dosage)...and we will see how that works.  I am concerned because my episodes tend to occur during or around my cycle.  Do you know if it will stop once the cycle stops?   I to hardly ever leave my house.  I find more pleasure inside alone than I do with pple.  I would simply rather be alone most of the time.  When I do go out, I end up doing things I should not do.  I spend too much money, my sex drive is crazy high and lately I have been forgetting things.  That is what prompted me to go see a professional and share with them my symptoms.  I can not afford to be out doing stuff and not remembering.  its like i have been sleep walking.....

[ILADVOCATE]

  Some mood stabilizers are more helpful on rapid cycling than others and it would be worthwhile to discuss what options might be of help with your psychiatrist.

[Jadeylovesdamo22]

Hi I'm 22 years old female I'm reading this page and thinking to my self these are all the symptoms I have but I have been to a psychiatrist and they told me I have sommitization disorder but i thought it may be a type of bi polar and I do believe I may have had hypomania I go through stages where I get really motivated where I feel like I can do anything I don't sleep at night I come up with all crazy ideas like cleaning out my wardrobe and stuff I feel jittery and to excited to sleep or even when I'm awake I'll go through a really extremely excited period and have lots of energey friends have noticed it my boyfriend has to I feel like the love world I'm happy full of life I'll come up with unrealistic adventures and then I come crashing right down i almost of mood swings I'll be really down I member always  crying on my birthday or at happy events also when I'm really down I get angry after it but almost like I'm in a rage I also have racing thoughts through m mind this happens over months though I'll be good for a month or two and then it starts agian I have strange obsessions to I won't wear certain tops or clothes I fear there bad luck I also have the same fear that someone's following me as some else did through my whole life I knew something was different I always felt sad as a kid but it's only the last few years I have noticed I'll be the total opposite if there's anyone that can give me some advice it would be helpful I'm also affraid of the dark to sleep And only get a 1 hour a night I'm so full of energy at night with ideas.

[horselover65]

Hey, I have to be quick because I'm sick as a dog right now. But, I wanted to let you know that if I gave the impression that I regularly clean then I definitely misspoke. Our place is usually very messy and often downright filthy. If I decide to obsessively clean, well it might be one teeny tiny area. Around a faucet, for example. For an hour. With a toothbrush. Maybe I'll clean the whole sink area. But, I won't touch the counters or do anything meaningful or noticeable. Generally, I'm sad to say that I don't manage to keep up with things at all. Maybe once or twice a year I will get absolutely frenzied about cleaning and that could last for days, but it's never anything that makes a lasting change. So, no good feng shui around here. More like, 'try not to trip on that dog crate'.

I hope you find out what the full body restless leg-type thing is called. I'd be very interested in knowng. I figured it was part of bipolar. Maybe it's some weird neuro thing. I have wondered about that. It's funny you freaked out the nurse. It's no wonder, though. I was watching a show yesterday about a man with bipolar and gender dysphoria who murdered a woman whose life he wanted to take over after stalking her for like a decade. Well, just so happens I have a friend with bipolar and gender dysphoria. Of course I should know better, but I swear it kinda gives me the willies thinking about it now. Hmmm, I wonder if "willies" was a Freudian slip, given the subject matter.  

I love design. I'd love to change all kinds of things, but mostly I'm interested in buildings. I wanted to take CAD classes but they weren't offered at the little community college down the road. I don't know about committing to anything requiring a commute because I know I won't feel like driving that far if I get depressed. I am not keen on driving anyway and especially not this time of year. We had a snowstorm this morning. Not a huge one, but big enough to mess up the roads, delay/close schools. Fun stuff like that. I really admire that you could design and build skimboards. That is too cool. Do you still have all those boards from that summer? I was always so weak in math. I failed chemistry - twice. I did get a little more of a grip on things later. I think all along part of the problem has been concentration and patience. Oh - have you seen the people surfing in Alaska? We watched a show about it. Talk about cold water! When we have gone up there on cruises, sometimes they will offer snorkeling or SCUBA or something. I can't remember which. It seems like madness to get into water that cold even with the big wet suits.

I asked my husband about the inappropriate laughter. He played it for laughs, of course, and told me I was almost always inappropriate. I should have known better than to ask. I did tell him that I didn't trust my moods and I was suspicious if I felt cheerful because I didn't know how long I'd be that way. I was saying a lot of really inappropriate things yesterday, but he thought I was funny. I think if we waited for something to be appropriate that we'd either never laugh or end up watching the Disney channel. Oh well, there's always Spongebob...

Yes, this is me being brief. For most people, I think they'd feel verbose. Me, I almost feel curt. Thanks again for appreciating the silly things I say. I have to move to a room that is further north and closer to facilities. Hope you've had a good day.  

[ILADVOCATE]

I apologize if I seem confrontational. The independent living perspective is slightly different from the medical model but it is by no means anti-treatment. At all. When I worked at these places if someone was not in treatment and needed it we actively encouraged them to seek help. And everyone has the right to their viewpoints. I do actively encourage people to know all about their psychiatric disability, their medications, what its for, the good effects as well as the side effects. When I hear "they put me on medication" which I hear a lot when I speak to consumers wherever I go, it makes me feel as if the person feels disempowered and they should think of medication, treatment and recovery as a positive issue. I agree I had to tone down my stance on long term side effects but I do believe people should be aware of what they are for any medication so they can work with their psychiatrist to monitor for them, such as knowing why regular bloodtests for certain medications are neccessary. I also know that sometimes people need medication when they are not aware of it. Including myself in the past. And some of the information I've brought is new to medical science but I've confirmed its factual. Any community moderator who has concerns I've updated with pm's. I just can't post the names of the providers on a public thread. You can speak to me about this by pm yourself any time you want.
   I think most psychiatrists would agree an educated consumer would get the best response. I think you are highly educated and have some more knowledge on issues regarding bipolar than I do. I was interested in the form of therapy you were talking about. I just said on another thread I tried a form of cognitive behavioral therapy called "flooding" and it didn't work for me. But that was a specific form of CBT and there are others and as well my friend who referred me stopped taking 4 hour showers from ocd and that was before there was even medication for it. It worked for him and many other people. I've never put down any form of therapy or self help group unless it was some useless natural remedy or form of magical thinking that went against all known medical science (and that was out of concern) but I haven't seen any posts like that here. If you have any concerns with a particular post of mine let me know by pm. Seriously. We all travel our own path and as long as it leads to recovery who am I to say its wrong.
  

[LeftCoastChick]

Your idea of me being an idealist, hmmm.  I beg to differ. I am a realist. I know my situation, BUT I refuse to let get the best of me. What you think is pop or fashionable therapy, so be it. It works for me and others. I refuse to let this dis-ease and other medical issues get the best of me. The therapy model I an working with is a new model of thinking and retraining one's brain comes. Is it a lesser therapy because it's new? I don't think so.

Like you I have had some brushes with death. I've stopped breathing twice from a reflux induced asthma attack, I've had two serious motor vehicle accidents, one where I had a pretty damaging spinal injury. I've also OD twice, once on illicit drugs the other an intentional wish to die.  That being said, many times in your posts you seem confrontational. Just because someone hasn't been through what you've experienced, doesn't make their experience lesser then yours.  I just want to remind you of that.