Does Hypomania Make You Happy?

Hypomania, with its increased energy, heightened productivity, and decreased need for sleep, is often thought of as an ideal mood state. To determine whether it is “the best of both worlds,” researchers characterized a group of “pure” hypomanics who had never had mood disorders.

Using data from a longitudinal study in psychiatric epidemiology that followed adults from age 20 to age 40, the investigators identified 23 subjects with “pure” hypomania and 19 with DSM-IV hypomanic episodes (17 with bipolar-spectrum disorders). Pure hypomania was defined as episodes of a day or more of increased activity, decreased fatigability, and decreased sleep needs, plus consequences of hypomania (life problems or comments from others about their behavior).

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