Posted by Nickengland on November 2, 2005, at 9:11:20
In reply to Hypomania-- a solution to TR Depression?, posted by Girlnterrupted on November 2, 2005, at 6:45:53
Hi Girlnterrupted,
To help answer your question based upon my own experiences with severe depression and hypomania (I'm bipolar) to be perfectly honest I don't think hypomania is a solution to severe depression.
The main reason being is the usual pattern which follows hypomania - is severe depression - then from there it is hypomania - then again it is severe depression. So the solution (based on my own experiences) is that when using hypomania to combat the depression ~ (I did that naturally without any drugs involved and it didnt quite work) is that the solution, unfortunately is in effect creating its own problem in the background and so the cycle continues if you get what I mean...
>I had chronic depression ever since I can remember. I went on Celexa and it cured the depression and basically transformed me into a different person.
>When Celexa pooped-out..
>One of them, after hearing my account of how Celexa turned my life around, concluded that I had been hypomanic during that year, and that it was not a good thing. I was shocked to hear that. How could it not be good to be happy, social and active? I didn't spend my money, take risks, or get into dangerous situations, like manic people do. How could she know whether it was hypomania, or just my real personality, minus the depression?
It could well be that you was experiencing (the good feelings etc) although that felt so good, like the real you ~ they were drug induced by the celexa, until the effects no longer worked, which could warrent a bipolar 3 diagnosis from what I understand..basically meaning that you wouldn't normally have these hypomanic symtoms, had it not been for the SSRI drug, the down side is that the drug can't keep its effect indefinitely (when inducing hypomania) - when the drug pooped out did you slip back into depression?
>Some people said I was very charismatic
>Now I was extroverted and outgoing.
>I was very very talkative and I laughed very easily and made people laugh.
>I came up with really funny things, I ALWAYS had something to say, comments would just spring up my mind and I felt so creative and full of life.
>That's just how full of energy and happiness I felt and how I transmitted it to others.
>Even in my dreams I was overwhelmed with happiness. I began dreaming really often about flying. I would just take off, and I would propell myself very high in the sky. People would watch me in amazement, but nobody but ME could fly. It was great, even while asleep I was happy.
All these symptoms are of a similar nature to that of hypomania (not full full-blown mania) but hypomania. One way to think about them is to possibly reverse them and they would seem like depressive symptoms - kind of like extreams of mood, on the bipolar spectrum, high, low etc, but importantly because the drug induced them. Just like (reversed, a drug could induce depressive symptoms)
>I didn't spend my money, take risks, or get into dangerous situations, like manic people do.
Thats good!...that kind of explains the 'hypo' side, meaning less than mania. Although when I was hypomanic, I did all of those things unfortunately!
>My doctor concluded it was hypomania.
I think your doctor could well be right, although he/she could be wrong, the thing is saying you was hypomanic is one thing, like in my case I clearly was, but there was no drugs involved making me hypomanic to induce it, and a family history of bipolar, whereas with yourself *if* you was hypomanic, it was induced by the antidepressant from what I can see of your account on here..
>That was a WHOLE year. Can hypomania last that long without a single interruption?
As long as the drug was having its effects then yes, I think so, although of course very now again the symptoms would have varied. My hypomanic experience lasted nearly half a year, uninterrupted - I was functioning well etc until the crash..
>How could my real 'me' be unhappy, depressed and apathetic 100% of the time?
I was simply acting like one of those really outgoing, energetic girls, and there are quite a bunch of those out there. Or what, are all those girls hypomanic too? I doubt it. So why would this be hypomania in me, but normalcy in another person?Hypomania, can be tricky because it can feel like, why is it an illness to feel great?!...but feeling great - like all those energic girls, they're not actually hypomanic...unless they're all manic depressives...
In a sense hypomania or mania, is as serious a medical conditon as severe depression, sometimes the consequences of the hypo/mania can be even more serious than the depression.
>So I was wondering how can anyone tell between hypomania and simply an outgoing/extroverted/charismatic personality?
Sometimes if the hypomania is mild, its not that easy to tell, and if its very mild, then it may not be that serious, just similar to mild depression, although, the best people to be able to tell is a qualified psychiatrist ;-) and also close friends and relatives who notices the sudden shifts in mood.
>And if this was in fact hypomania, I wouldn't hesitate in going hypomanic again.
If when it was lasted reported that when you was hypomanic and then 'it' or the celexa pooped out, you slipped into depression, then I would strongly suggest that you consider that *if* you want to go hypomanic again, you face a high chance of the depresion again, also theres a kindling theory that the more episodes you endure, the more you can endure in the futre and the harder the illness is to treat, eg, requires more drugs for stabilisation..
>Does anyone know how to induce it?
Others may answer, but to my own experiences, I won't as I would feel I could be saying to someone how you induce severe depression, if you know what I mean..
The main treatment, if your symptoms are that of hypomania, then swinging to depression ~ are mood stabilisers, it can take some time finding the balance, but its possible, with the right medication(s)/supplements :-)
Kind regards
Nick
poster:Nickengland
thread:574432
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051031/msgs/574469.html