Difference between Hypomania and Mania?

I've always considered myself to have experienced Hypomania and not Mania and possibly have Bipolar II, but now I've just remembered some things I couldn't before.

- Masturbating in public (This was at around 5am in a small field while feeling extremely Hypomanic or indeed Manic)
- Going up to peoples doorsteps hoping to speak to random people while feeling insanely happy without any fear in the world

I'm not sure if this would still be Hypomania or indeed Mania? Can people with Hypomania still act erratically?

I've actually been approached by someone who was experiencing Mania and they seemed slightly less in control than what I can remember feeling.

I'm feeling pretty Hypomanic right now.

There is no real border that separates the two; I believe the only difference is whether or not the person can function and make rational choices or not.

Person A might be bipolar II, experience depression 80% of the time, followed by mild hypomania for a week.

Person B might also be diagnosed bipolar II, experience depression 50% of the time, but experiences extremely intense highs that last for weeks or months, but not do anything too outlandish, so they only consider it hypomania.

It seems some people can have much more intense highs, but remain rational, while others can calmly say and do ridiculous things while remaining calm and composed, but they're not considered schizoaffective or something else because they're mood is still elated and it doesn't happen when they're well.


In short, some might say it's only a way of describing the level a person is functioning.

Hypomanic=more productive than usual, or mildly elated
Manic=too elated to function normally/healthily

It just so happens that the more intense the high, the harder it is to control, but everyone is different and there's a million different factors.

This is why bipolar disorder is considered a spectrum. It's ultimately identifying and managing the symptoms specific to you that's important, not worrying about a couple label variations.

I see.

I'm currently in a happy and constructive state of mind. I've been making a list of things to discuss with the doctor and I've wrote hell of a lot in the past hour. Sometimes I've just been extremely happy without getting much work done, but I've been in control. The depression all seems the same. I'm a bit worried I'll have a depressive episode soon, as I haven't had one for a while.

I'm a bit embarrassed to speak about some things though.

Hi guys,

I would definitely second the bipolar spectrum opinion/fact.There are so many different types and cases when it comes to bipolar.Labels should be thrown out the window as very few people seem to be exactly typical of either bp1 or bp2.In my case i suffer from periodic depression and when well i would consider myself to have experienced slight hypomania if even.However when i get help for my depression,when the anti-depressants kick in and i start to feel well,only then does my mood begin to cycle in and out of depression.Never came remotely close to mania ever.A mood stabaliser does appear to work for me in the past,so i am starting this process all over again.

Pj

There is no 100% exact border between those two, but I have for me a simple roule that works actually pretty well:

The difference between hypomania and mania is that you have yourself still under controll in hypomanic episodes.

Of course this is not scientific, but for me, it works pretty well.

Ive heard too that Mania comes with delusions and voices where hypomania does not. Yes I would say that one test to see if it is mania or hypomania is if you are still in control. Ive heard it put this way "With hypomania" you THINK you are Jesus, with mania, you ARE Jesus. Hope this helps.
Vegas

Having experienced both I would agree with the control thing and also to a degree insight is worse in mania tho it can also be an issue in hypomania. I think viewing it as a spectrum can be useful as indeed can viewing BP as an illness on a spectrum rather than as discrete diagnoses. This is what my psych is keen on I believe and I think it is useful.

Cracked

Well from that conclusion I take it that it was still Hypomania.

I did not have any Hallucinations, Delusions or experience Grandiosity.

I realised that some of my actions were slightly erratic so I decided to go home at my highest point. Also after starting to masturbate, as much as it was hard to stop with Hypersexuality almost overwhelming me, I realised what I was doing was completely wrong and managed to stop.

I really enjoyed most of my experiences with Hypomania. Just a few times of intense irritability and risks that I took weren't so fun looking back.