Hypomania is a milder state than mania, but it does not mean that it is completely harmless. In the course of hypomania, patients may become much more talkative, sleep much shorter, and also struggle with racing thoughts and many other disorders. Hypomania should not be underestimated as it may indicate that a person suffers from bipolar disorder. So what are the symptoms of hypomania and its causes? What treatment is used to balance the mood of a hypomania patient?
Hypomaniaand mania on one side and depressive disorders on the other are two types of mood disorders that belong to two separate poles. Depression is a state of low mood, mania and hypomania, in turn - episodes of high mood.
Mania and hypomania can be similar to a large extent, but these states are characterized by certain differences, which also explains the legitimacy of distinguishing between them. The basic criterion for distinguishing these two mood disorders is the duration of their symptoms. Mania can be diagnosed only when the related problems last for at least 7 days, while hypomania can be diagnosed earlier - after 4 days of symptoms.
Reasons for hypomania
The mechanism leading to the occurrence of hypomania in patients has not been clearly defined so far. Many different factors are taken into account as possible causes of hypomania. The main ones are disturbances in neurotransmitters in the brain - it has been observed that the stimulation of the systems, e.g. noradrenergic and dopaminergic (e.g. by taking drugs affecting these systems) can provoke hypomanic episodes.
Genes inherited by patients may also have some influence on the occurrence of hypomania. It turns out that people whose family members have struggled with mood disorders (e.g. with hypomania or bipolar disorder) are themselves at increased risk of developing such problems as well. There are, however, many more potential causes of hypomanic episodes. It was mentioned above that taking various medications can lead to pathological mood enhancement - with examples of preparations the use of whichcan lead to such an effect, there are both psychotropic drugs (e.g. antidepressants) and preparations used in internal diseases, such as e.g. glucocorticosteroids.
Among other possible causes of hypomania are:
- various systemic diseases (e.g. systemic lupus erythematosus, thyroid disorders and AIDS);
- neurological diseases (including brain injury, multiple sclerosis or brain tumor);
- occurrence of side effects of taking various psychoactive substances;
- experience of some difficult life event, which the patient's psyche is unable to cope with (such an event may be, for example, rape, but also a natural disaster, or even being dismissed from work or becoming a parent).
What are the symptoms of hypomania?
A patient with hypomania may basically have the same symptoms as a person with mania, but they are much less severe. The patient's elevated mood can be easily observed in his environment: relatives of the patient can clearly see that the person is behaving differently than usual.
The symptoms of hypomania include:
- significant improvement in mood;
- playfulness;
- verbosity;
- significantly reduced need for sleep (the patient can sleep even two or three hours a day and still feel that he feels very refreshed);
- irritability and a tendency to explode easily with anger;
- racing thoughts and accelerating the course of thinking;
- feeling of exceptional importance of oneself;
- sharpening the senses (e.g. colors may seem more vivid to the patient and sounds much louder);
- simultaneous handling of multiple tasks;
- tend to be easily distracted;
- increased sex drive;
- general social "unlocking" (manifested, among others, in the fact that the patient does not adhere to generally accepted norms of behavior).
It should be emphasized here that the range of symptoms in mania is much smaller than in mania - a patient experiencing hypomania is usually able to function properly (he usually does not neglect his professional or family obligations, for example). Yet another feature that distinguishes these two forms of elevated mood is that hypomania does not develop psychotic symptoms (in the case of mania, these problems may already appear).
Some people who experience hypomania from disorders that appear in its course (or at leastsome of them) are even… satisfied. It sounds quite bizarre, but it is quite easy to explain - reduced need for sleep, combined with clearly increased energy and other symptoms of hypomania in some people (e.g. artists) lead, among others, to to significantly increased creativity. Theoretically, hypomania can be considered beneficial, but in practice it is simply dangerous. People with hypomania are characterized by a tendency to risky behavior - they can easily lose all assets in the casino, take a very high loan or engage in risky sexual contacts. For this reason, hypomania needs to be treated - but it needs to be diagnosed first.
Hypomania: diagnosis and treatment
Diagnostics
The diagnosis of hypomania can be made after a psychiatric examination. It is important to discover the characteristic symptoms of hypomania during the test - not only the patient is asked about them, but sometimes also his relatives (the patient himself may not feel that he is experiencing any mood disorders). In addition to finding that the patient experiences increased mood and other problems typical of hypomania, it is also necessary to establish for how long they have been present - the time criterion in this case, as already mentioned above, is a minimum of four days of symptoms of hypomania. It is very important to focus not only on the current deviations from the patient, but also on the previous mood. For if the patient had depressive episodes before, and now experiences hypomania, the diagnosis of bipolar II disorder can be made.
Treatment
Patients with hypomania - especially those in whom it is one of the symptoms of bipolar disorder - are recommended primarily mood stabilizers (mood normalizing). Such agents are, for example, lithium s alts, but also carbamazepine and valproates. Other medicines that are given for hypomania are antipsychotics (neuroleptics). Psychotherapy is an auxiliary method of treatment - patients may be recommended to use various types of psychotherapy, and quite often they are recommended cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy.
About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.