Hypomania and Productivity

 A week ago or so, I was feeling a little hypomanic. Hypomania, according to an Ask the Doctor article on Havard Health, is: "at least three of the following symptoms for at least four days: inflated self-esteem or grandiosity; decreased need for sleep; increased talkativeness; racing thoughts or ideas; marked distractibility; agitation or increased activity; excessive participation in activities that are pleasurable but invite personal or fiscal harm."

While hypomania can be bothersome and often harmful, when managed properly it can be used to one's advantage. In the article, "March Madness: 7 Signs of Hypomania," by Helen Farrell, she writes, "When the symptoms... coalesce to produce an extremely goal-oriented and focused individual, hypomania can be a good thing. The key is that functional people in a hypomanic state are able to keep their goals rational and concise, and they can plan around them accordingly."

In that past several years, I've continued to work on managing my symptoms in order to keep them from interfering with my life and to harness the energy that comes from hypomania to be productive.

It's interesting how the swings of bipolar can change my outlook and functioning in a short amount of time. Before the hypomanic episode, I was feeling pretty down and ready to abandon some goals. My wife did a nice job of reminding me that my running goals help improve my exercise and that exercise in turn helps my functioning in general.

Then, a couple days later the hypomania hit. Racing thoughts and ideas, increased activity, increased talkativeness and distractibility are challenges to manage, but I feel like I continue to manage hypomanic episodes much better than I have in the past. As a result, the episodes don't last as long and can actually be productive.

In my most recent hypomanic episode, I've cleaned more thoroughly, reined in my talkativeness, written several blog posts, and thought of more ideas for a couple of books I've been working on.

Previously, I've often jumped from one thing to another, leaving things half-cleaned or half-written. I've also tended to set out to accomplish more things than I have time for along with mismanaging my priorities.

Now, I still struggle with some of those things, and I know I'll never be perfect with or without hypomania, but I'm grateful that my management of hypomania has improved.

Be well.