Hypomania is a state that is characterized by a decrease in the need for sleep, an overall increase in energy, unusual behaviors and actions, and a markedly distinctive increase in talkativeness and confidence, commonly exhibited with a flight of creative ideas. Basically a miniature, more controllable version of the mania that characterizes the manic-depressive cycles of bipolar disorders.
Investment banking and other finance jobs are known for being very demanding in terms of the hours that they require. For that reason, it’s a very helpful trait to be able to focus down for a few days when things are heating up. I find myself periodically entering this hypomanic state from time to time, and during those times, I’m basically indefatigable. Another thing that commonly occurs is thinking about improbable business schemes or speculations, where I’ll get ideas for incredibly niche products or services and plan them out, only to abandon those thoughts after the “wave” ends. This process of cooking up absurd ideas is almost always very enjoyable, and I find that it’s one of my favorite things that I regularly do. Just wondering if anyone here considers themselves hypomanic from time to time or if any of this resonates. Cheers
EDIT: typical occurrences when I’m experiencing this sort of thing:
- feelings of nearly total physical invincibility
- euphoria
- lack of tiredness and the ability to stay up for days on end if it were demanded (although going to sleep is still very easy)
- writing a lot more than I usually do and clearing out backlogs of other tasks
- contemplating unusual business ideas (most commonly impractical inventions/contraptions or media/entertainment companies)
I get hypomania sometimes and generally enjoy it. It’s better than feeling depressed.
I had expected that you would respond. How does that sort of thing manifest for you? Exercising? Running marathons? Kickboxing? Does it come out at work? Just wanting to know what it looks like in different people
Generally less sleep is needed and I go on crazy long endurance workouts and get to the next level in training.
It hasn’t really affected my work. But, I have painted in manic phases, so that creative aspect comes out when I start getting super high off my brain’s own dopamine. I don’t hope to get to full blown mania ever again and haven’t had mania since 2013. I pretty much know how to stop hypomania turning into mania and have done it several times.
a true manic state is mind bending - though insanely interesting from a thinking ability/creativity perspective, you do not want to experience this
As I imagine you read, I told Isaiah that manic states can be very debilitating, so that isn’t my focus here. I’m sure people experience far stronger versions of what I do, but I wouldn’t trade my lot for theirs. Thanks for responding. Cheers
I feel like this all the time. - Ye
One of his most underrated songs. But yeah, I feel like this comes and goes with me. Lately I’ve been getting ~6-7 hours of sleep and dropping weight from going ham swimming and not eating as much. My weight used to fluctuate wildly (250 -> 180). But lately I’ve been consistently 190-200 range. Weirdly specific to this, I’m currently building out something I think is a good idea and learning to code in another language to make it easier to scale. Also learning more about event based architecture.
Sometimes I suffer from depression too. I’ve never gone actually manic- I’ve seen someone who has and it can be really destructive. I’d love to just stay in this state of high energy and performance forever but your brain just can’t. It’s also best to seek out professional help from time to time as well, even if you don’t think it’s harming your life.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to keep that in mind.
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