Hypomania Symptoms in Adults: Signs, Causes, and Interventions to Get Out of Mania

Research suggests that bipolar spectrum conditions affect about 37 million adults worldwide.^[1] Hypomania is a recognized feature of the bipolar spectrum, most commonly associated with bipolar II disorder and cyclothymic disorder.

It represents a period of unusually elevated mood, increased energy, and heightened activity that feels invigorating at first but can quickly become disruptive.

If hypomania is affecting your day-to-day life, a mental health professional can provide support and guidance on how to manage it. This page can also help you understand bipolar disorder hypomania signs, as it explores:

• What hypomania is
• The mental health conditions that include hypomania
• How to recognize hypomania symptoms
• Why hypomania happens
• Triggers for hypomanic episodes
• Ways of coping with hypomania and treatment options
• Answers to frequently asked questions on hypomania

What Exactly Is Hypomania?

Hypomania is a period of unusually high mood with a noticeable increase in energy and activity that lasts for at least four consecutive days.

According to guidelines, the change must be a clear difference from a person’s usual behavior and should be noticeable to others.^[2]

Hypomania should also not lead to significant disruption in social or work life, require hospitalization, or involve psychotic features (like hallucinations or delusions). If these more serious symptoms appear, the episode is considered mania, not hypomania.

The symptoms also cannot be explained by excessive alcohol intake, drug use, medications, or a medical condition.

Which Mental Health Diagnoses Include Hypomania?

Hypomania is not a standalone diagnosis. Instead, it appears as part of several bipolar spectrum disorders, such as:^[4]

• Bipolar II disorder, in which a person experiences at least one major depressive episode and at least one hypomanic episode, but never a full manic episode. Those who have bipolar II disorder spend more time in depression than in hypomania.
• Bipolar I disorder, which requires at least one manic episode for diagnosis. People with bipolar I may also experience hypomanic episodes between or after manic episodes, but mania is the defining feature.
• Cyclothymic disorder (or cyclothymia), which includes at least two years (or one year for children) of fluctuating mood swings. These swings include hypomanic symptoms and depressive symptoms, neither of which meet the full criteria for hypomanic or depressive episodes.
• Other specified or unspecified bipolar and related disorders. These describe people who have clear bipolar-type symptoms, such as brief hypomanic episodes, but who don’t fit into any specific bipolar diagnoses.

Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms of Hypomania

Hypomania has a variety of characteristic symptoms. These include:^[5]

• A distinct, sustained change in mood and energy where you feel unusually upbeat and your activity level is clearly higher than it would be typically
• Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
• Decreased need for sleep
• Increased talkativeness or pressured speech
• Racing thoughts, also known as “flights of ideas.” For instance, your thoughts might jump quickly from one idea to another
• Attention being pulled away by small, irrelevant things
• Excessive involvement in risky activities like impulsive spending, sexual indiscretions, reckless driving, or risky business decisions
• Increase in sexual drive or behavior, as in putting new or intense demands on a partner, showing sexual interest in people you normally wouldn’t approach, starting an affair, pornography, online sex, or sex work
• Symptoms being present most of the day, nearly every day, for at least four consecutive days
• Behavioral changes that are observable by others
• An absence of psychosis, and no hospitalization being needed

Why Does Hypomania Happen?

Hypomania is a biological state in which brain systems that control mood and energy become temporarily tilted toward elevated activation.

The brain’s reward system, which includes dopamine signaling between the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens), also becomes more active during hypomanic episodes. This is why people feel euphoric and more energetic.^[6]

The brain area that plans, regulates emotion, inhibits impulses, and sustains attention also shows altered activity in bipolar illness. These changes lead to a more rapid speech, distractibility, poor judgment, and impulsive choices despite awareness of potential harm.

Finally, the body’s circadian system strongly regulates mood. In people vulnerable to bipolar spectrum illness, sleep loss or circadian disruption (from things like jet lag, shift work, or irregular schedules) can cause hypomanic episodes.^[7]

Common Triggers for Hypomanic Episodes

Even when someone has hypomanic brain changes, they don’t have hypomanic symptoms continuously. Instead, symptoms come in episodes triggered by certain risk factors.

Here are some of these risk factors:

• Poor sleep or a sudden change in sleep schedule can trigger hypomania. In a large survey of over 3,000 people with bipolar disorder, about 20% reported that sleep loss had precipitated mania or hypomania.^[8]
• Stressful life events such as relationship breakups, bereavement, or major work changes can precede the relapse in bipolar disorder. In a clinical study of relapsed patients, 70% had experienced a stressful life event in the pre-onset period of their manic and hypomanic symptoms.^[9]
• Substance use commonly co-occurs with bipolar illness and worsens its course. Increases in alcohol use have been associated with worsened manic/hypomanic symptoms.
• Antidepressant treatment, like escitalopram, when given without a mood stabilizer in someone with bipolar disorder, can provoke a switch to hypomania or mania.
• Bipolar-spectrum conditions are strongly heritable. Having a first-degree relative with bipolar disorder raises the likelihood that hypomanic symptoms reflect a bipolar pattern rather than purely situational mood changes.

How Mental Health Professionals Identify Hypomania

Hypomania can look different from person to person, so healthcare professionals take time to look carefully at all possible explanations before giving a formal diagnosis.

For instance, your healthcare provider will have a thorough conversation with you about your health. In this conversation, they’ll likely ask about:

• The severity, duration, and impact of your symptoms on your life.
• Your medical history.
• Your family’s mental health history.
• Any current medications, supplements, or herbal remedies you take.

These questions help them rule out other possible causes of elevated mood. For instance, hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid) can mimic the symptoms of mania or hypomania. Your provider may order blood tests or even imaging scans to rule it out.

If nothing medical seems to explain your symptoms, they’ll refer you to a mental health specialist for a more detailed assessment.

A mental health professional uses standardized criteria to determine whether a person meets the definition of a hypomanic episode. These criteria include whether…

• Your symptoms have lasted for at least four consecutive days and are present most of the day, nearly every day.
• During this time, you have experienced three or more hypomanic symptoms (such as decreased need for sleep, increased talkativeness, racing thoughts, or impulsive behavior).
• Your symptoms have not caused severe impairment in social or work life.
• The episode does not involve psychotic symptoms like delusions or hallucinations.
• The symptoms cannot be better explained by the effects of substances (such as medications, alcohol, or recreational drugs) or by another medical condition.

They might also use validated questionnaires like the Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32) or the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS).^[10][11]

Treatment Options for Managing Hypomania

Hypomania occurs within the bipolar spectrum, for which there are plenty of evidence-based treatments. These include:

Get Help for Hypomania at Mission Connection Healthcare

If you or someone you love is experiencing symptoms of hypomania, consider reaching out for professional help.

At Mission Connection Healthcare, we specialize in providing compassionate, evidence-based care for people living with bipolar spectrum conditions, including hypomania.

Our team of mental health specialists creates personalized treatment plans for all patients. Our programs integrate proven, research-backed strategies such as cognitive behavioral therapy, mood stabilization, and psychoeducation.

We also accept all major insurance plans to ensure you access the help you need without unnecessary financial stress. Get in touch with our team today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hypomania Symptoms

If you have any persisting questions or concerns about hypomania, the following responses to FAQs may help.