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Posted 12/26/2010 9:01 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all,

I'm new here, and have a friend who has been diagnosed with Hypomania Bipolar II. What I'm currently interested in is that were certain 'traits' in my friend actually markers of hypomania, that we missed?

She presented the following symptoms:

- Decreased need for sleep over the period of 3 years I've known her
- Making a lot of plans
- Hypersexuality (she admitted having has this problem last year)
- Over spending
- Occassional extreme rage and irritability over minor issues
- Very, very productive at work, kitchen, i.e. everything
- Irrational paranoia & jealousy of her boyfriends female friends

Two weeks ago, she had this 'breakdown' of sorts, slipping into a rage and having pressured speech, racing thoughts. Within a matter of hours we saw her go from being extremely irritable to being pensive & regretful and back again.

What I want to know is, that is it possible to have had all those symptoms and not have had a hypomanic 'episode' per se uptill now?

Also, how can we as a group of friends help and support her?
Posted 12/26/2010 11:14 PM (GMT 0)
 

  Yep, you nailed all the biggies for BPII Hypomania. I got the same exact problems, to a t.

   The big thing is to get her into therpay and medication. WIthout meds, it won;t get better. There is no real "non drug" way of dealing with  this that i am aware of.

  Yes, it is possible to have just parts of this desease at different times of the the year, and not have all at once. And where she might have sex issues and rage at one time, she might have spending and parnoia at another. Fun fun fun.

  You can support her, and it will be a long road ahead. I have said this before, you are not only learning a new "you" that will emerge from the medication, but you also will  grieve the old "you " that was lost. Because for better or for worse, you will still miss the old you, it took me the better part of a year to get over that and learn that the new bill had a great life also.

   I think it is great you want to support her, just be prepared for many failures, this desese doenst give up easy. THere will be many relapses, many screw ups, and lots of tears. But at the end there is a light at the end of the tunnel, with enough work and the right  meds we do get better.

   GOod luck.

   Bill 

Posted 12/27/2010 6:53 PM (GMT 0)
Actually to be honest, all of this has been pretty traumatic for all of us, more so because all of this happened on her wedding day.

All of us as a group, perhaps remained oblivious to the fact that mental problems exist in the real world only because it had not happened to anyone around us who was so dear and cherished.

Now that this has come to pass, we are thinking of all the things you mention Bill plus trying to build up a local support group and find others who have this problem. It has been an awakening of sorts, pretty humbling at that, and we want to help her in all the ways we can. You are right, it is very difficult to handle an unstable patient, and she has been so searing & negative at times, I just hope that the combination of therapy and drugs falls in place as soon as possible.

I'm individually a little disappointed that I could not catch her, see through it all earlier and perhaps have her helped *before* she broke down. Hence my question, that is it possible to have not had a prior 'episode', and still have all those symptoms. Or are these symptoms in themselves constitute an episode.

Thanks
Posted 12/27/2010 9:27 PM (GMT 0)
 

  Naw, you couldnt have seen it coming. We are the masters of hiding these problem.

  Honestly right now you should concentrate more on going forward,  looking to the challenges that will be happening, and not worrying about how you could have missed this.

  In my life, as out of control as it was, nobody caught it. Except my ex, she said she thought i was bipolar. Well surprise surprise, she was right. But no one else , friends, family, no one else caught it. 

  Good luck, and rest assured, there wasnt anything you could have seen to spot this coming. '

Bill

Posted 12/28/2010 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
Hi and welcome to HW :)

How wonderful it is to see someone care so much about their loved one suffering with mental illness. A true rarity.

So, with hypomania, what you described is what I went through as well, for years without a proper diagnosis. I was diagnosed with depression in 2001. But for years I had these huge hypomanic episodes with the classic symptoms--these episodes I was not aware were hypomanic. I thought they were periods of feeling "better" from the depressive episodes.

Three things have helped me with hypomania:

A proper Bipolar II diganosis

Meds (took years to get me to being "ok")

And most important CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) --I learned these techniques in a real live support group for 12 weeks through one of our hospitals. CBT requires work continually. The biggest thing for me when I am feeling "high" is to focus on realizing what is going on (cause, symptoms etc) and then knowing I have to do everything I can to slow myself down. Do activities that will help calm my racing thoughts, speech etc. Try to read, watch a movie, have herbal tea with a friend, write in my journal--get those thoughts out and on paper.Do relaxing things so I am not running around all over the place doing excessive cleaning or whatever. Extra attention to staying away from alcohol, caffience. Doing healthy exercise (walking=slower form of exercise...seeing nature is soothing, relaxing, ahhh..calmness....) Along with trying to slow yourself down, eating healthy, sticking to sleep routine...these things can help crashing into a deep depression....

Hope this helps a little.

Hugs,
Mogs
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