Bipolar Me

I thought I had managed to avoid mania for most of my bipolar life. Brief bouts of hypomania, maybe, but never the real thing. Then I thought back on the last year and a half.

For years I had been trying to write a mystery novel, but a year and a half or almost two years ago, I really kicked it into high gear. I wrote. I rewrote. I tweaked. I outlined. I thought of names for my characters and backstories for them. I mapped out on what day of the week each event happened. I even looked up the weather and sunset time for a certain, pivotal day. I showed the first four chapters to volunteer readers.

Then I decided it was done enough and ready for the world. I started in December, sending out three queries a day to publishers and agents. I was undeterred by the rejections. I knew that many famous authors had been rejected dozens of times before they were published. I sent out 180 queries. It was like my brain was popcorn, exploding with ideas and determination and optimism.

I got the expected rejections, of course. Many, many of them. Most were of the “This is not the right book for me/us. Agents’ opinions differ. You should keep trying” variety, which only egged me on. Surely there was an agent out there for me somewhere.

At last, I got two responses that showed the agents had clearly read the sample chapters. They commented on the substance of my work and told me what needed “improvement.” My eyes were opened. They were exactly right. My book contained serious flaws and was by no means ready to be published.

So, that was about six months or more “wasted” on hypomania. In addition to the obsessive (though futile) attempt to make contact with 180 agents, I had other symptoms of mania or hypomania. I had delusions of grandeur. I thought my book would be published and make a splash. I imagined it might win an award for “Best First Novel” from a noted mystery organization. I even imagined the phone call to tell me that I had won.

No one noticed that I was hypomanic. My husband thought that I was somewhat obsessed, but he felt his duty lay in offering me encouragement, rather than bursting my pretty balloon.

My symptoms backed off.

Then, just a few months ago, Dan and I discovered that we were due to come into a sum of money. We immediately started planning what to do with it, and part of that plan included overseas travel. My hypomania kicked back in. For several months now (though we haven’t gotten the money yet), I fell into a frenzy of planning. And I spent money.

I bought small things, but lots of them. Books of maps and guidebooks. Little pill cases for daytime and nighttime meds. Rain gear. And more – despite the fact that the trip is still at least seven months away.

And I prepped. Oh, how I prepped. I used those guidebooks to plan routes and sights to see, trying to balance the route between things that might please my husband and things I had seen before and wanted to revisit. I googled to find out how distant each b-n-b was from the various attractions, and how far the attractions were from each other. I planned where we would go on each day and how much time it would take to drive, so I would know when we had to check out of our accommodations.

And I researched the country and foreign travel. Were masks required? What would the weather be like? Where could we change money? How much cash would we need to carry? Would ATMs work with our credit cards? Were they even accepted at most venues? Would our banks charge a foreign transaction fee? Could our cell phones both work abroad and call back to the States? What days and months were some destinations open? Would they acknowledge my handicapped parking pass?

None of this was actually harmful, except maybe the money and time I spent. In fact, much of the obsessing was enjoyable. It’s been my habit in the past to research the places I was traveling, buying guidebooks and other useful things. But this was more than that. I felt internal pressure to make this trip as perfect as it could possibly me. I was planning the Bataan Fun March.

Recently, I snapped out of it and talked it over with my therapist. She affirmed that I was indeed having hypomania, though not a very destructive kind, except maybe the spending. Since then I have barely touched the guidebooks and schedules. I haven’t googled anything.

I must admit, though, that the feeling of accomplishment in both cases was quite enjoyable. I see why people romanticize hypomania or mania and even long for it to happen. It does increase energy and allow one to plan, even if mistakenly. I knew from seeing another manic person in my former workplace that mania seldom accomplished anything of lasting value. I suppose the lesson I must take from these experiences is that I should learn to recognize the signs of mania and try to drag myself back down to earth before I do something I’ll truly regret. That will involve my prescribing physician, my therapist, and my husband (once he realizes that I am getting manicky), all in an effort to get me back to a place of self-control.

But of course, we know that’s not really how bipolar disorder works.