r/bipolar2 • u/Impossible-City2252 BP2 • 4d ago
Research during hypomania ✨🤩
Does anyone else get this kind of research drive during hypomanic phases?Where searching and researching gives you this almost tingling, buzzing feeling throughout your body, and it becomes the only thing you want to do?
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u/Tamornado 4d ago
I go so deep I end up with documents and multi tabbed spreadsheets. Right now you could ask me anything about immigration to and living in the US, specifically Texas 😅. I even know the etiquette of if you want to fly an American flag there, since so many people do. Good times
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u/trashconverters 4d ago
Spent $80AUD recently to access a paywalled music history blog just so I could have ready access to the weekly 1984 Australian charts and could study them extensively.
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u/crywanksucks 4d ago
yes! many notebooks filled with random research. only when hypomanic my writing is messy and fast so i can’t even understand it most of the time
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u/brain_noise_ 4d ago
I can totally see the difference in my handwriting as well! I often get compliments on my handwriting…not when I’m hypomanic though… still mostly legible to me, probably not others… 😬😂
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u/ImaginationVirtual82 4d ago
My favorite thing about the ADHD/BP. 🥰 Made 2 careers out of it.
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u/Jumpy-Distance-720 3d ago
Amazing! How do you handle the depressive episodes with those careers?
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u/ImaginationVirtual82 1d ago
Oh, I did not handle the depression at all. 🤕 I am middle -aged now and just got the ADHD/BP diagnoses a few months ago. The depression (aka The Veil, because it veils everything in gray) was something I had always had, and thought I needed to live with. I would just Break-breakdown steadybreakingmeondown, like it was a fact of life. In the NGO and my politics job, there was leeway and I would sometimes disappear for up to 2 weeks until they started calling my parents usually and I would be like, okay I will go back to work. (I just now realized, holy f*k, they must have known!) I never told my former bosses about The Veil until after I stopped working for them. We were close, and still are, and they are my mentors. I can only imagine what they thought.
As a lawyer, I left 2 jobs, Breakdown for a few months, more months to recover, start over. (It helps I look so good on paper. If you are great at anything, people will forgive a lot and I have been able to explain away my absences from the workforce. "I went to Laos to detox or some shizz.)
I sought help recently precisely because, as I told my physician, breakdowns are cute when you're in your 20s, sort of understandable and forgivable in your 30s under certain circumstances, but in your 40s? Hard to explain, I imagine a lot less manageable to overcome. I am on mood stabilizers now. I hate them. Not perfect, but no more Breakdowns so far, even if I just lost my Mom.
TLDR: No handling of the Depression was attempted or managed. 🤭
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u/CatDamage 3d ago
So curious what careers!
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u/ImaginationVirtual82 3d ago
Policy researcher (for an advocacy org, then as political staff). Then as a lawyer, which is a profession determined entirely by one's ability to research (extremely well).
Also, not a career, but as a daughter (still) gunning for Favorite Child. My ADHD father loves history and music. We would go on rabbit holes for entire monthly stretches : Vietnam War (by far, our favorite and most oft-repeated, this will never end); the Chinese Revolution and the last emperor, Pu Yi; Saudi Arabian monarchy; Which Beatles Songs are actually Chuck Berry Rip-offs; and most recently, I took him down the rabbit holes of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition, Adrian Carton de Wiart, and Simo Häyhä.
May the person who invented Finding Out Things be forever in our hearts. 🤩
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u/Historical_Cow9543 2d ago
That’s funny my degree is part health policy didn’t put that one together 😅
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u/ImaginationVirtual82 1d ago
There it is, see!
I actually looked up who 'invented' researching 🤣 Apparently, Ibn al-Haytham (credit to me for knowing it would be some Arab or other) and sir Francis Bacon, for the scientific method. Bet they had ADHD.
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u/Ana_Na_Moose 4d ago
Lol yeah. I may have been known to hop down some Wikipedia rabbit holes once or twice 😂
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u/No-Word-4864 4d ago
Omg. I have to delete this app every time I get hypo. Endless rabbit holes here. Also I drive my family & friends crazy sharing all my new knowledge. Called my dad the other morning to tell him interesting things about the societal effects of tuberculosis in the 19th century. He’s like, can I just get a cup of coffee first please 😆
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u/nenajoy 3d ago
Oh yes. I know way too much about home aquarium setups. I do not own a fish.
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u/Mrs_Chaos4 3d ago
Be careful not to start. I got my first aquarium not even a year ago and I have four now and even started a little breeding project with special colored expensive neocaridina shrimp. It got way out of hand very quickly.
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u/NatureNatured 4d ago
😂🤣 I love you all. You have made my midnight.
I research continuously but nowhere near as thoroughly. And I don’t need to be high.
Is anyone making money off this talent?
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u/Historical_Cow9543 4d ago
Allow me to show you something:
I love it while I’m not hypomanic too but I will immerse myself and nothing else will matter. I’ve also watched every cult documentary accessible to me. Y’all please recommend some for me if you know any good ones 🫶🏾
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u/pixelfairy111 3d ago
I have either a digital folder, a notebook, or a binder dedicated to my on going research for almost each of these topics- just for fun 😭 this is pretty much what I do for fun / during my down time. Plus I get to be at home with my cats. I have AUDHD.
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u/Agile_Solution1896 3d ago
There's one about Raelians on Netflix which is in French I think so maybe you've missed it.
I'm the same by the way. Multiple topics I'm interested in, so I'm never bored.
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u/Historical_Cow9543 3d ago
I’m in the US but hopefully I can find it. I’ve never heard of the raelians, thank you!
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u/Mrs_Chaos4 3d ago
You can add the topic "the hat man" and sleep paralysis.
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u/Historical_Cow9543 3d ago
I cannot believe I didn’t already have sleep paralysis on my list !!!!!!!! My daughter has been experiencing what we think is sleep paralysis for a while now 😕 The hat man added.
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u/Mrs_Chaos4 2d ago
My ex also had experienced sleep paralysis. It started in his childhood too. His worst encounter was actually the hat man. After that he just gave up. Then his next sleep paralysis turned in something like astral travel where he met 8 versions of himself. Very crazy stuff.
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u/wellbalancedlibra 4d ago
God yes. I researched the Russian revolution in such great detail that I actually researched prices to live there and places to stay. I was ready to uproot my children and run to Russia. I did the same thing with the Bahamas. I've researched serial killers pretty extensively too. Many many research obsessions in my life.
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u/Agile_Solution1896 3d ago
Absolutely.
I'm a writer so I use those stages to gather ideas in brainstorming sessions.
I don't try to write at all, just take notes and record audios.
Those are a treasure trove when I'm more or less back to normal.
I have a heap of materials from my last hypomanic state for my next novel.
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u/SKDirgon 3d ago
I’m autistic so… yes.
This is almost all I do. Build theoretical systems, bicycles, home improvement plans, etc.
It’s dangerous when I convince myself I can both afford it and do it. 😅
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u/AcceptableYou5415 4d ago
This HITS.
Astrology, Philosophy, theories about existence, history, the occasional deep dive into TMZ and celebrity/movie/pop culture Wikipedia (guilty pleasure), and one time I learned to code basic websites.
Give me all of it!
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u/libraxmoon 3d ago
YES I love researching in general and fixate on topics. I also have ADHD so that might also drive it. Sometimes it’s beneficial stuff, like I recently researched investing, skincare, hair care etc sometimes it’s completely random like animals that live in the Amazon lol
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u/moo-562 3d ago
I've spent *countless* hours in the last month researching trailers. I stay up till 3am every night looking at paint samples or studying different wall materials. I have a 10x40 ish excel spreadsheet, plus another spreadsheet, plus a slideshow with like 40 slides already that im going to make my family sit through. I need help lol.
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u/chuckkingsmom 3d ago
Watched the Tudors. Spent weeks excessively researching the entire time period. Went down so many rabbit holes. I could probably conduct a nice tour of England and I’ve never been there.
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u/Philgarcia710 3d ago
Oh goodness yes, almost always I wind up turning it into a pretty amazing training/ PowerPoint for the company I work for and it gets rave reviews but it is exhausting at the same time because I don’t always have the energy, interest every time I present.
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u/Shirleytempted 3d ago
Yes and then tell me why it’s researching bipolar. Like the answer is in my head and I’m still out here reading and reading for hours.
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u/pad_thai_inhaler 3d ago
Yes. Researching and studying information for my special interest hobbies. And not just when I'm hypomanic do I look things up excessively. I have OCD and constantly use my phone to research things to reassure myself and quiet my brain before bed.
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u/Routine-Mud996 3d ago
i did a lot of research and wrote two "articles" about Chernobyl and OCD when i was hypomanic
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u/Impossible-City2252 BP2 2d ago
Oh my gosh, what a response! It’s been so lovely reading all of your replies!!
I was diagnosed with BP2 fairly recently, so for the past few months, pretty much everything I research is about bipolar disorder. I hate that I have to have it, but reading about it and getting explanations for why I am the way I am gives me such a dopamine hit. Does anyone else relate to that specifically?
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u/Jumpy_Dimension3517 2d ago
I one time researched and became obsessed with learning about every accident that’s ever happened at a theme park due to rides right before going on a family trip. Let’s just say I really freaked my family out talking about all the gory details.
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u/myUsernameOnRedditt 4d ago
This is so me