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I’m Scared of Bipolar Hypomania

August 12, 2015 Natasha Tracy

I realized the other night that I am scared of hypomania. Some of you may remember that a little while ago I suffered a particularly notable hypomania and it was then followed up by a huge, debilitating depression. And last night I realized that while hypomania for me, is not necessarily, always unpleasant, I’m actually scared of hypomania.

Fear of Hypomania

Sometimes stress helps cause hypomania for me and lately I’ve been under a lot of stress. This stress just seems to up my anxiety more and more and more until eventually it morphs into a hypomania. And the hypomania sort of creeps up and doesn’t hit like a baseball bat. And last night, I found myself considering the hypomania symptoms I was seeing in myself and saying to myself, “this is not hypomania. It will be fine.”

And I realized that I was saying this to myself because I’m actually scared of the hypomania. And I’m scared, not so much of the hypomania, per se, but I’m terrified of what happens afterwards. I’m terrified of such dramatic, horrific, life-altering depressions.

Denying Hypomania

Bipolar hypomania can be scary, maybe not because of the hypomania, but because of the depression afterwards. Here's how to deal with fear of bipolar hypomania.So, seriously, I found myself wanting to deny the hypomania symptoms and just write them off as something else. “It’s not really hypomania, I’m just energetic. I’m just productive. I’m just chatty.”

Now, it occurs to me that denying the symptoms of hypomania (or anything) doesn’t actually make it go away. It’s interesting, though, how natural denial is when you really don’t want to see what is there.

Facing Up to Hypomania Fear

But in the end, of course, I saw the hypomanic symptoms for what they were and faced them head on. That’s all you can do. Denial, as always, will make you worse, not better. And because I faced my hypomania and handled the hypomania, I was able to curb it to some degree and thus the resultant depression.

Because while I think it’s normal to be scared of any mental illness symptom (most of them really suck) I think we have to be stronger than the fear. I have to stand up, face reality and deal with it as best we can. It’s the only way to get a toehold on bipolar or maybe even, something more.

Image by ladiiibug.

 

You can find Natasha Tracy on Facebook or Google+ or @Natasha_Tracy on Twitter or at Bipolar Burble, her blog.

APA Reference
Tracy, N. (2015, August 12). I’m Scared of Bipolar Hypomania, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, November 5 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/breakingbipolar/2015/08/im-scared-of-bipolar-hypomania



Author: Natasha Tracy

Natasha Tracy is a renowned speaker, award-winning advocate, and author of Lost Marbles: Insights into My Life with Depression & Bipolar. She also hosted the podcast Snap Out of It! The Mental Illness in the Workplace Podcast.

Natasha will be unveiling a new book, Bipolar Rules! Hacks to Live Successfully with Bipolar Disorder, late 2024.

Find Natasha Tracy here as well as on X, InstagramFacebook, Threads, and YouTube.

Shelby
September, 4 2015 at 1:08 am

I am late to the party but after 18 months in the darkness, my hypomania has arrived with a vengeance. I normally look forward to being a little manic, especially after the longest bout with suicidal ideation I have ever had to bear but this episode is an SOB. I am really angry and impatient. It is going to take a lot of effort to keep from reading the riot act to my managers and losing my job.

Ratam
August, 13 2015 at 2:12 pm

I keep telling myself I have it under control but it does creep up and then I upset that I didn't see it coming. It's worse at night. I want to talk with my husband but he's sleeping and I have trouble falling asleep.

Sarah
August, 12 2015 at 10:54 pm

I'm scared too.

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