Hypomania and mania
Explains hypomania and mania, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.
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What are hypomania and mania?
Hypomania and mania are periods of over-active and high energy behaviour that can have a significant impact on your day-to-day life.
- Hypomania is a milder version of mania that typically lasts for a shorter period. This is usually a few days, although the length of time can vary.
- Mania is a more severe form. It typically lasts for a week or longer, unless it is cut short by treatment.
You might experience hypomania or mania on their own. Or you might experience them as a part of a broader mental health problem. For example, bipolar disorder, postpartum psychosis or schizoaffective disorder.
Some of us may find episodes of hypomania and mania enjoyable. Or we might find them very uncomfortable, distressing or unpleasant.
I love being hypomanic because I feel as though I'm on top of the world and can and will do anything I want, but I hate it because I feel so disconnected from everyone else.
Hypomania
Hypomania typically lasts for a few days. It can feel more manageable than mania.
You will usually be able to continue with your daily activities without these being too badly affected. But other people may notice a change in your mood and behaviour. And it can be an unpleasant or difficult experience.
Symptoms of hypomania can include the following:
How you might feel
- Happy, euphoric or a sense of wellbeing
- Very excited, like you can't get your words out fast enough
- Irritable and agitated
- Increased sexual energy
- Easily distracted, like your thoughts are racing, or you can't concentrate
- Increased self-esteem or self-confidence
How you might behave
- Being more active than usual
- Talking a lot or speaking very quickly
- Being very friendly
- Sleeping very little
- Spending money excessively
- Losing social inhibitions or taking risks
Everything is extremely bright and loud and everything inside my head is moving extremely fast. I'm irritated with everyone because no-one talks or does things as fast as I do. It's amazing but horrible at the same time... it's like I'm in my own amazing colourful world but everyone else is still stuck in the normal dull grey one.
Mania
Mania has a significant impact on your ability to do your usual day-to-day activities. It can disrupt or stop these completely. Severe mania is very serious, and often needs to be treated in hospital.
Episodes of mania typically last for a week or longer, unless they are cut short by treatment.
Symptoms of mania can include the following:
How you might feel
- Happy, euphoric or a sense of wellbeing
- Uncontrollably excited, like you can't get your words out fast enough
- Irritable and agitated
- Increased sexual energy
- Easily distracted, like your thoughts are racing, or you can't concentrate
- Very confident or adventurous
- Like you are untouchable or can't be harmed
- Like you can perform physical and mental tasks better than normal
- Like you understand, see or hear things that other people can't
How you might behave
- Being more active than usual
- Talking a lot, speaking very quickly, or not making sense to other people
- Being very friendly
- Saying or doing things that are inappropriate and out of character
- Sleeping very little or not at all
- Being rude or aggressive
- Misusing drugs or alcohol
- Spending money excessively or in a way that is unusual for you
- Losing social inhibitions
- Taking serious risks with your safety
My speech started getting really fast... I became aggressive and thought that I could solve the world's problems by myself. I didn't sleep, hardly ate or drank and had so much energy that I would pace around the room.
After an episode of hypomania or mania
After a hypomanic or manic episode, you might:
- Feel very unhappy or ashamed about how you behaved
- Have made commitments or taken on responsibilities that now feel unmanageable
- Have only a few clear memories of what happened while you were hypomanic or manic, or none at all
- Feel very tired and need a lot of sleep and rest
- Feel like you have hit a 'reset' button, and like you are a different person to before the episode
If you experience hypomania or mania as part of another mental health problem, you may find that the episode is followed by a period of depression. For example, if you experience bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder.
I didn't even know what sectioning meant
I was ecstatic about what I thought I had discovered, thinking that a lot of people were going to be coming to the house and needed to be fed.
This information was published in March 2023. We will revise it in 2026.
References and bibliography available on request.
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