Last week, I was thinking about how my bipolar disorder used to cause me to face huge swings in mood, and how strongly these swings changed my “identity”. The late teens/early twenties are generally considered the phase of life wherein people “find themselves”, and it’s usually quite the struggle. As someone who is bipolar, that struggle was all the more difficult because my identity just refused to ever stabilize.
I’ve since found a medication regimen that works well for me, and I’m fairly stable now. Trouble is, the stable point is not what most would consider a normal mood; rather, it’s a hypomanic state. I’m hypomanic right now, and this current level has lasted for about a two months now (incidentally, it’s what drove me to start this blog).
What follows is a brief description of my life when hypomanic. So, if you’re curious as to what hypomania is like, or are yourself bipolar and are looking for something you can relate to, read on.
