We often think of mental health struggles in clear categories: anxiety over here, depression over there. But, what if that surge of creativity, that decreased need for sleep, and that feeling that you can conquer the world—the experience of hypomania—is actually a sophisticated, unconscious strategy to defend against an underlying and unbearable emotional pain?
From a psychodynamic perspective, we can understand that some of our most powerful emotional states serve a protective function. At The Center for Mind & Relationship, we believe in looking beneath the surface to understand the “why” behind your patterns, offering a path not just to manage symptoms, but to achieve profound self-understanding and healing.
What is Hypomania? A Brief Overview
Hypomania is a state characterized by a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, and abnormally and persistently increased activity or energy. To those experiencing it, it can feel like:
- A surge of productivity, creativity, and new ideas.
- Racing thoughts and rapid speech.
- Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity.
- A significantly decreased need for sleep.
- Increased talkativeness and sociability.
- Impulsive behavior (e.g., spending sprees, risky decisions).
Unlike full-blown mania, hypomania doesn’t typically involve psychotic features and may not cause major impairment in day-to-day functioning—in fact, its productivity can sometimes feel like a superpower. However, it is an unstable state, often a precursor to a depressive crash, and can have significant consequences.
Beyond a Symptom: Hypomania as a Psychological Defense
While hypomania is a key feature of Bipolar II Disorder and should always be assessed by a clinical professional, a psychodynamic lens offers a complementary way to understand its function. In this view, hypomania can operate as a powerful psychological defense mechanism against overwhelming depressive feelings.
This is sometimes called a “manic defense.” The core idea is that when underlying feelings of sadness, grief, shame, dependency, or worthlessness become too threatening to the ego, the mind flips into the opposite state. It constructs a fortress of energy, grandiosity, and frantic activity to ward off the collapse into despair.
Imagine a deflating balloon representing the psychic collapse of depression. The manic defense frantically pumps air back in—not to find a stable middle ground, but to fly as high as possible to avoid touching the ground. The “flight into up” is a desperate flight away from the down.
The “Payoff” and the Hidden Price of This Defense
Every defense has a perceived benefit, which is why our unconscious mind employs it.
The Perceived “Payoff” of Hypomania:
- It feels good (at first): The euphoria and confidence are a powerful antidote to the pain of depression or shame.
- It provides an escape: It successfully holds unbearable feelings of sadness, loss, or emptiness at bay.
- It creates a feeling of power: It defends against feelings of helplessness, smallness, or dependency by creating an inflated sense of self.
- It can be highly productive: The surge of energy can lead to significant accomplishments in work or creative projects.
The Hidden Price of Hypomanic Defenses:
- It is unsustainable: What goes up must come down. The crash into depression after a hypomanic episode can be even more severe due to the energy expended and the consequences incurred.
- It prevents necessary emotional processing: By constantly fleeing from grief or sadness, you never have the chance to actually process it and heal. The underlying pain remains, waiting to resurface. Our article on navigating the labyrinth of loss discusses the importance of this process.
- It can damage relationships: Impulsive behavior, irritability, and a lack of emotional presence can push loved ones away. True intimacy requires vulnerability, the very thing the hypomanic defense is designed to deny.
- It leads to a fragmented sense of self: Living between these two extremes prevents the development of an integrated, stable identity that can hold both joy and sorrow. This pattern of emotional dysregulation can sometimes be a feature in our work with Personality Disorders Therapy.
How Therapy Can Help: Looking Beneath the “High”
An insightful therapeutic approach, particularly one that is psychodynamically-informed, doesn’t just aim to suppress the “highs” but to understand what they are defending against. The goal is to build the capacity to tolerate difficult feelings so the mind no longer needs to resort to such an extreme defense.
- Creating a Stable Therapeutic Relationship: Therapy provides a safe, consistent container that can help you withstand both the highs and the lows without judgment.
- Understanding Triggers: We work together to identify what specific feelings, events, or memories trigger the “flight into hypomania.”
- Gently Processing Underlying Pain: At your own pace, we begin to safely touch upon the underlying depression, grief, shame, or vulnerability that has been avoided, allowing for true emotional processing. Our Individual Therapy is designed for this kind of deep work.
- Developing Emotional Regulation: You can learn skills, often drawn from Mindfulness-Based Therapy, to ride the waves of intense emotions without needing to swing to extremes.
Moving Towards True Stability and Emotional Integration
The ultimate goal of therapy in this context is not to eliminate all energy, joy, or creativity. It is to help you build a more integrated and resilient sense of self—one that can experience a full range of human emotions authentically, without needing to flee from pain into a fragile and unsustainable high.
If you recognize this pattern of swinging between highs and lows and are ready to understand the deeper emotional currents at play, we invite you to reach out. Contact The Center for Mind & Relationship to schedule a confidential consultation in Pittsburgh or online.
About the Author: Jonah Taylor, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and the founder of The Center for Mind & Relationship. He specializes in an integrative approach, helping clients explore the deeper emotional reasons behind complex patterns like hypomania to foster greater stability and self-understanding.
