Posted by Racer on July 5, 2006, at 1:38:17
In reply to Differences of BP, mixed, hypo, manic, dysphoric, posted by HEART~ on July 4, 2006, at 16:44:24
I'm unipolar with anxiety, which a lot of pdocs these days want to dx as BPII. The bipolars are split over mania: BPI includes full blown mania; BPII is hypomania, which can present as anxiety or irritability. (Frankly, though, I think LIFE can present as irritability, but maybe I'm just snarky tonight...)
I've seen both mania and hypomania, though I haven't actually experienced either. As far as I can tell, at least.
The one time I saw someone in a full blown manic episode, it was during a support group meeting for people with depression and bipolar. He was depressed when he came into the meeting, but he switched during the group. The first thing we noticed was that he was starting to sit up and fidget -- and then he started talking. And he was talking way too fast, making silly jokes that only he laughed at, talking about things that were totally inappropriate, and kinda bouncing where he sat. He was asked to leave the meeting about that point. Later, at another meeting, he talked about another manic episode he'd had, during which he got into a lot of financial trouble. Including putting a Jeep onto his American Express card! (Good reason for BPs to stick with Visa, I guess.)
Hypomania, though, was common with a good friend of mine. I could always tell when he was getting hypomanic, because he'd suddenly get very, very productive. And he'd talk a lot, about a lot of things, and I wouldn't be able to get much into the conversation. The biggest difference is that his conversation was reasonable -- he was just talkative. He's a very interesting guy, and I could listen to a lot of it most of the time, but there was a definite quality of his NEEDING to talk. (Admittedly, that's partly a sort of social anxiety that we all saw in him, and partly these days that he spends way too much time working in his home office. When we talk, he's been silent for a couple of hours, and that's hard for him. lol)
I don't know that any of that's helpful, huh? But it's the best I's got...
Oh, and dysphoria. Dysphoria is low mood, and there's something called double depression, which is major depression on top of dysphoria. Think low level depression that really doesn't much improve, and that's a quick and dirty explanation of dysphoria. An argument can be made that I have double depression, since I am still depressed most days despite Wellbutrin. I disagree, because I remember feeling very different from this. {sigh}
Hope that's helpful. And happy Independence Day.
poster:Racer
thread:664021
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060701/msgs/664118.html