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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Hypomania and mania are periods of over-active and excited behaviour that can have a significant impact on your day-to-day life.
You might have hypomania and/or mania on their own or as part of some mental health problems – including bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, postpartum psychosis or schizoaffective disorder.
Some people find hypomania and mania enjoyable. Or you 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 lasts for a few days, and can feel more manageable than mania. It can still have a disruptive effect on your life and people may notice a change in your mood and behaviour. But you will usually be able to continue with your daily activities without these being too badly affected.
Symptoms of hypomania can include:
You may feel:
Your behaviour may include:
"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 lasts for a week or more and has a severe negative impact on your ability to do your usual day-to-day activities – often disrupting or stopping these completely. Severe mania is very serious, and often needs to be treated in hospital.
Symptoms of mania can include any of the symptoms of hypomania listed above, and can also include:
You may feel:
Your behaviour may include:
"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 a hypomanic or manic episode, you might:
"Then comes the inevitable crash – waking up one morning after finally sleeping for about 12 hours for the first time in a week and realising I've spent all my money, applied to study courses and for jobs I'm not even qualified for, and fallen out with everyone who tried to calm me down."
"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 January 2020. We will revise it in 2023.
References and bibliography available on request.
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