The hypomania is a psychological term used to describe a mental state similar to mania but whose symptoms are less pronounced. Its main characteristics are an elevation of the mood, disinhibition, and in most cases also a greater facility to get irritated.
The main difference between mania and hypomania is the severity of the symptoms experienced. In the case of mania, the affected person has serious problems carrying out a normal routine. On the contrary, hypomania can be quite annoying, but it does not prevent being functional on a day-to-day basis..
Hypomania is a bit different from most mental disorders in that some of its symptoms are positive. Thus, it can lead to increased confidence, increased energy, and higher than normal productivity..
However, people with hypomania can also suffer some negative consequences. The most problematic is that they tend to carry out risky behaviors, because they feel invincible.
Thus, for example, they may practice unsafe sex, gambling compulsively, or have difficulty complying with the job..
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Hypomania tends to come in the form of episodes. Over a period of time, the person will have a series of symptoms associated with this problem..
To be considered a true hypomanic attack, it must last at least four days; and the altered mood must be present at all times during this time.
On the other hand, the way a person acts during an episode of hypomania has to be clearly different from the way they normally behave. However, the changes cannot be so serious that they prevent you from leading a normal life..
Next we will see what are the main symptoms that appear during an episode of hypomania. It is necessary to bear in mind that not always will all be present; in general, those that arise will vary depending on the person and the occasion.
The main indication that a person may be suffering from an episode of hypomania is that their self-confidence increases appreciably. When someone is going through this process, they will tend to believe themselves invincible and better than others.
This can lead those affected to carry out risky behaviors, and to annoy the people with whom they interact, because they tend to display large amounts of arrogance.
However, a person who did not previously know the individual would not notice that his behavior was especially abnormal, unlike in cases of mania.
Normally, a person needs 7 to 9 hours of sleep to feel fully rested. However, during an episode of hypomania, those affected feel that they only have to sleep for about 3 or 4 hours to recharge their energy..
How long such a sleep pattern can be maintained is not very well known, since hypomanic episodes do not tend to last long. However, some experts believe that sleeping so little time can be harmful to health.
One of the side effects of increased energy in people with hypomania is that their need to talk also increases. Therefore, he will tend to be much more talkative than usual..
In some cases, this increased need to communicate will result in undue pressure on other people to carry on a conversation at all costs. This trait tends to be one of the most uncomfortable for those who are close to the individual affected by this disorder..
Increased energy also sometimes translates into individuals' subjective experience that their mind is racing faster than usual..
This can translate into a run over between thoughts, the inability to express everything that goes through the head, or some overwhelm due to the speed of brain activity.
This symptom tends to also correlate with increased talkativeness. The person with hypomania feels that they have to speak more and more quickly to express everything that goes through their head.
Those affected by this disorder have greater difficulty than usual in concentrating on a single task and staying focused on it. Usually, when someone has hypomania, any stimulus will be enough to change their attention..
This often causes quite a bit of problems in people with hypomania. However, they should not be enough to prevent them from carrying out their usual routine, since in this case we would be talking about complete mania.
One of the few benefits of hypomania is that people affected by this disorder tend to focus much better on their goals and objectives. Therefore, during this period it is possible that they will advance significantly on the path to achieve what they set out to do..
Even so, an excessive obsession with achieving certain goals can create a lot of mental tension for people who are in the middle of a hypomanic episode.
Finally, people with hypomania will tend to be involved in a large number of pleasant actions or situations, even if they carry risks to their well-being. This is, in fact, the symptom that usually brings more problems to those affected by this disorder.
Thus, for example, someone in the middle of a hypomanic episode could have unsafe sex, eat unhealthy food, abuse substances such as drugs and alcohol, or gamble excessively..
Researchers have not found a single cause that leads a person to enter a phase of hypomania. On the contrary, in general there are several factors that affect the individual and lead him to suffer from this mood disorder.
In addition, the symptoms of hypomania do not usually appear all at once, but develop little by little. The only exception to this would be on the occasions when there are mixed episodes; that is, moments in which the person alternates between a hypomanic and a depressed mood very quickly.
It is generally considered that there are three types of factors that can influence the development of a hypomanic disorder: environmental, genetic and biological.
Environmental factors often include a high level of stress, prolonged lack of sleep, the appearance of a significant change in life (such as a breakup or the birth of a child) or the appearance of complicated life conditions..
On the other hand, if a person suffers a situation of violence, the chances of this altered state of mind also increase..
Regarding genetic factors, it has been proven that mood disorders tend to have a certain hereditary part. It is believed that it may have to do with altered brain chemistry, which would be present from birth.
Finally, the consumption of certain medications, the appearance of some diseases, or the consumption of drugs or alcohol favor the appearance of this disorder and other similar ones..
Generally, the approach to treating hypomania has to focus on several fronts. Among other things, therapists will tend to prescribe psychiatric medications, psychotherapy, and certain changes in the person's lifestyle..
Sometimes these approaches can also be used separately from the rest. However, according to much research, it is much more effective for the treatment of hypomania to use all three types of intervention at the same time.
At the drug level, people with hypomania usually take mood stabilizers, or antipsychotics. Both can be very effective in reducing the intensity of hypomanic symptoms..
However, in many cases, patients will have to try different types of medications until they find the ones that are really effective for them..
What works for some may backfire for others; so clinicians must be able to change their approach if the one they use is not working.
Certain techniques of some psychological currents, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, can be very useful to help patients with hypomania to manage the symptoms they suffer..
These would include all kinds of tools that would help them have fewer problems and maintain a more stable mood at the time they suffer an episode. They will generally be more effective if medication is used as well, but they can help a lot on their own.
Hypomania is not a particularly serious disorder; For this reason, sometimes it is enough to modify certain aspects of the day to day so that the symptoms become manageable.
Among other things, eating a healthy diet, exercising frequently, and having a stable sleep pattern can significantly decrease the intensity of hypomanic episodes..
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