Hypomania - Blessing, or Diagnosis

November 3rd, 2005

The Hypomanic American pdf cover screenshot

This essay at changethis is a startling picture of many of our lives: months of normalcy, even lethargy peppered by periods of intense creativity, sleepless nights, and ADHD-like concentration issues.

Hypomania (a less intense form of the nightmarish mania that manic-depressives experience) affects a large number of people in the US, and apparently appears in extremely high numbers among successful entrepreneurs. A slightly “amped up” version of the natural cycles we all experience.

For me, reading this essay was like looking in a mirror. I agree with the interviewees of the piece that while these hyper periods are slightly disconcerting, they can be extremely useful for actually getting stuff done. I’ve attempted (and eventually accomplished) more during these periods than at any other time in my life. This site, the GlitchCast, my Music, lex, and countless invention ideas have all come out of times when I’ve felt “rammy” (short for rambunctious, a phrase which I’ve used to describe the feeling for lack of a better word.)

So what do you think? Are you a Hypomanic American? Is it a blessing, or a diagnosis?

Posted by Eric Skiff Filed in life, work
No Comments »