Hypomania and mania are mental health conditions and they fall under the category of bipolar disorder. Today, we’ll discuss what is hypomania, its symptoms, causes, and treatment.
What is Hypomania?
Hypomania is a state of mind when you revved-up energetic activity level, behavior, or mood. Others would recognize the “new energized” and “excited” form way beyond your casual and normal self. Hypomania is a mild form and mania is a severe state, and they both are the subcategory of bipolar disorder.
Hypomania is a condition when you have an abnormally high energy level, activity level, and extreme changes in your emotions, mood, and behavior. The new “energetic” and “excitement” form is different from your normal and causal self, and others would recognize the change in behavior or mood. However, some of the main traits that would manifest in the hypomania state are as follows;
- Racing Thoughts
- Limited need for sleep
- High distractibility
- Extreme Talkativeness
- Inflated Self Esteem
- Irritation
- Flamboyance
- Excitement
- Unusual Gaiety
Hypomania vs. Mania
Some features and characteristics would help you to rule out the condition of hypomania and point towards the episode of mania. When symptoms are so severe that disturb your daily routine life, and make it necessary for you to be hospitalized, it is the manic state.
The duration of a manic episode tends to last a week or longer, and it would have a severe impact on various areas of your life. The time span of a hypomanic episode is shorter it would last four to five days, and it is not severe enough to impact your social, school, and work life.
Symptoms of Hypomania
The symptoms of hypomania vary from person to person, and they keep on changing. Some of the main hypomanic behavioral symptoms are as follows;
- Unusual aggression, hostility, excitement, and irritability
- Fast-talking that is difficult for others to understand make any sense out of it
- Risk-taking is about the things that normally you won’t take, just because you feel “lucky”
- Reckless spending like purchasing an unaffordable care
- Limited need for sleep
- Keep on changing the subject while talking
- Hypersexually active in terms of involving in extramarital affairs, making inappropriate advances, unusual demands from your partner, and spending a lot of money on sex workers, pornography, or phone sex
- Behaving and dressing flamboyantly
- Inappropriate behavior like making crude remarks and comments at the dinner party
Causes of Hypomania
Some of the main causes of hypomania are as follows;
Herbal Supplements
Herbal supplements aren’t risk-free, and some of the results are in the form of psychological symptoms. Many reports have shown that a vast combination of herbal supplements may cause hypomanic symptoms to exhibit especially when you use them together over time.
Medication
Usage of some medicines like “Escitalopram” could exhibit the hypomanic symptoms, along with the treating the symptoms of anxiety disorder and depression. Escitalopram comes under the brand name “Lexapro.”
Stress
A study conducted on 99 students in the emergency medicine residency program discovered that the stress level among students increased significantly during the program, but it also amplified the hypomanic symptoms as well. In other words, a higher stress level would cause the development of the symptoms of hypomanic behavior.
Genetics
Many research studies have shown that hypomania is genetic and people can get it from their parents. Approximately 29% of the females and 59% of the males are at the risk of getting it.
Depression
Depression is also an element of BPD, and it can exist along with hypomania. Sometimes, the treatment of depression results in the form of hypomania. It happens among 0.3% to 22.4% of the people that are on depression medication, and they call it “antidepressant-associated hypomania.”
Sleep Pattern Changes
Insomnia has an association with hypomanic experiences among people if their circadian rhythm is disturbed. Studies are still going on to check whether sleep disturbance causes hypomanic experiences, or not.
Drugs/Alcohol Usage
Depression and hypomanic symptoms are common among 11% of the people that are with the substance use disorder, and 55% of the people that are on the substance impairment related issues.
Treatment of Hypomania
Some of the main treatment plans for hypomanic symptoms are as follows;
Medication
Healthcare providers and doctors usually suggest mood stabilizer medications to treat the symptoms of hypomania. Some of the main medicines that they recommend are as follows;
- Valproic Acid: anticonvulsant
- Lithium: mood stabilizers with the effect of antidepressant
- Benzodiazepines: anti-anxiety drugs
- Antipsychotics: it decreases the hypomanic symptoms before the effects of other medicines like lithium and valproic
Lifestyle Changes
Some of the changes in your lifestyle that can help you to treat the hypomanic symptoms are as follows;
- 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night
- Exercising daily
- Eating meal regularly
- Ignoring stimulating drinks and gatherings like loud and crowded social gatherings, and sugar and caffeine-based drinks
Conclusion: What is Hypomania? Symptoms, Causes, Treatment
After an in-depth study of what is hypomania; its symptoms, causes, and treatment; we have realized that hypomanic symptoms impact you to a great extent. If you experience its symptoms, then you should consult with the healthcare provider in your area.
Ahsan is an accomplished researcher and has a deep insight in worldly life affairs. He goes Live 3 days a week on various social media platforms. Other than research writing, he’s a very interesting person.
