What Does Mania and Depression Feel Like for Those with Bipolar?

Yes

When my mania started it was all about sex. Might sound fun but it was absolutely horrible. I couldn't think of anything else, never slept or ate( lost 130lbs). Even though I started meds and therapy soon after symptoms started, it destroyed my life for a few years. I never slept around or anything, it was just always in my head. I'm terrified of mania now so I'm super careful to avoid all triggers and care for myself physically and emotionally. I have cptsd too so it's really hard to stay rational enough to keep myself safe. Mental illness is a nightmare and when I'm on this app and hear others sharing experiences that are similar to mine it reminds me that I'm sick, not a bad person. Idk about y'all, but I do extremely foolish, reckless things when I'm either way up or way down. On the upside, after a few years of therapy and meds I have definitely learned tools to cope and my quality of life finally seems to inching back up again. I'm glad I didn't give up when things were really bad.

I was diagnosed with bipolar 1 at 8 years old and as Sicky as that sounds its given me an advantage compared to someone diagnosed much later. Ive had a lot of time to learn about myself and my brain and how I react to things and what makes me different from other. When I enter a manic phase it feels like a high almost. Everything feels fluttery and I don't think about my words and actions as much before hand. I say I'm going to do crazy things and I see very off to others around me. Just like I'm being weird and no one really knows why. I find myself doing things that I'd never do in my right mind like making an expensive purchase or cheating on a partner. Everything is just so impulse for a person who normal thinks hard about every thing. Medicines have cut this down big time. Now my biggest manic trigger is just being overly tired or exhausted and staying up too late. I always feel better after a nights sleep. When I go into depression it's very very different. I personally experience mostly seasoned depression. Every year in high school around october its like I black out. I get so stressed and sad. Crying all the time and can't get out of Bed. Id miss a month of school at a time sometimes. the only thing that ever brought me out of it was the end of the winter seasons. I also experience depression strongly when I'm having relationship issues. I know depression in bipolar people is different than regular clinical depression because at the end of it we do pull out easier and its easier for external events to pull us out. I promise it gets easier. You'll be a pro at yourself one day!

I find it very hard to have a real relationship also it is very hard getting along family. I also rarely make friends around my age cause I feel like an outcast.

i was first diagnosed in 2010 and still i don't even know when my mood manic changes. i used to have a chart i needed to fill during my teens mostly. it was how many shifts in one day, the severity, symptoms and the lengths. it was so bad then that i was having at least 6 switches a day from extremely manic and i was so reckless during those episodes. now it is more based on if i get triggered. heres a true story from today. i woke up feeling "great," and in little pain and was going to go somewhere but the plans were canceled. that downed me a little but then i was trying to get ahold of my mom. i called her and she yelled upstairs that she was on the phone( sounds lazy but I'm bedridden 60% time so stairs to her aren't everyday) i got so irritated and i think jealous?, because i heard her laughing and said that i needed her to answer my calls because i may need help. idk why it just got to me so bad. 😕 that i ended up not eating and slept the rest of the day and kept room in the dark. didn't interact on social media or my games. i just slept.

It's the same for me, usually when I'm manic I'm really cheerful and feel like I could anything and want to do everything which usually hurts me in the long run. When I'm depressive it usually right after im really angry at something or someone other than that it the thoughts like feeling alone or worthless stuff like that. I haven't found a med that works for me yet. I've been diagnosed for 6 years I think