Posted by Ritch on March 3, 2003, at 23:23:20
In reply to And the difference between manic and hypomannic IS, posted by kara lynne on March 3, 2003, at 13:24:12
> You were all so great to explain hypomanic to me. But how can you tell the difference between hypomanic and manic? Is it just a matter of degrees, someone being up for days at a time for instance would be full scale manic? And if you show a little um..aggressive happiness or euphoria it's still in the hypomanic category? (not saying anyone here is or isn't, just asking for my own information.) Thanks all you teachers.
Kara, I think the best determinant of whether you are "hypo"-manic or manic is whether or not the cops get called on you or your family/friends are wanting you to go to the ER! :) DSM-wise (that diagnostic thingie) is concerned with duration of the episode being greater than 4 days as the determination of whether it is a "manic" episode or not. I'm not sure of how usable that definition is, but it really boils down to how you function with everybody else given your circumstances. With hypomania you may get somebody saying something like: "I wished I had some of what you are on!" With mania you may get somebody saying something like: "We need to get some treatment for you NOW". I'm not trying to make fun of this... I've been around bipolars that needed to get to the ER and it is pretty intense. I've felt some intensity similar to that, but it usually doesn't last very long.
poster:Ritch
thread:204540
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030301/msgs/205702.html