JULIE’S ANSWER:
Hi R. Full blown mania is what constitutes full blown bipolar disorder- Bipolar disorder one is the diagnosis when a person has full blown mania and for most people this includes psychosis. It’s awful! Hypomania is the milder form of mania as you probably know- and while it can be very dangerous and life disruptioning as it was for me for over 20 years, it’s not as serious as full blown mania.
But…I’ve found that hypomania can be dangerous when it goes on a long time. This is when I used to get married- and I’m not kidding. I’ve had euphoric hypomanic episodes that lasted for entire summers. For all of my adult life- before I was diagnosed at 31, I believed that hypomania was the real me. This is why your question is so important. Some people exist on a hypomanic high for VERY long periods of time. There is a form of bipolar disorder that is mania only- and the people who have this LOVE IT and the people who have to live with the person hate it.
So yes, hypomania can be incredibly hard to spot and to manage.
When it comes to dysphoric hypomania, it’s even more difficult to manage as it simply feels like something is wrong with the world and the person with bipolar disorder can’t see that the problem is actually internal and caused by bipolar mania.
The only way I know to manage mania-besides medications which is another topic is to have a symptom management system. The system I write about in my books, especially the Health Cards is the one I use every day.
Great question!
Julie
