Blackout shopping.
I am diagnosed *bipolar*, which is otherwise know as “manic depressive.” While I have been under treatment for it for over 20 years and am stable, I am “hypomanic” without treatment, which means:
Hypomania (literally “under mania” or “less than mania”) is a mood state characterized by persistent disinhibition and pervasive elevated (euphoric) with or without irritable mood but generally less severe than full mania.
That doesn’t sound like “depression”, does it?
I mean, if a person is happy and fun to be with, and never in a bad mood, how would anyone ever notice that there’s anything wrong with them in the first place – and even if someone did, why would you want to fix them?
It’s like if the Mr. Hyde to my everyday Dr. Jekyll was Katy Perry.
Well, for me, it was my college roommate who noticed something “off.” I’d go out shopping with friends and when I’d sign the receipts I wouldn’t even look at them, and then I might sometimes even leave bags behind.
And then a few days later I’d go back to buy the same thing no remembering I already had it.
This was weird to her for a few reasons:
- She counted every penny before buying something
- She knew my memory was insanely good – I could read something and spout it back
- You would normally have to drag me tooth and nail to any store that didn’t involve groceries.
She urged me to go get checked by a doctor after she calculated that my monthly credit card bills were totaling more than her annual tuition. (We never saw them, they went to my parents – which didn’t help matters any.)
Three different doctors, 10 tests later all said the same thing – hypomanic.
I did some research into it and found that a lot of OCD and addiction patients are actually misdiagnosed (they’re actually hypomanic) because of their obsessive behaviors with gambling, shopping, etc.
I’m so grateful that she saved me from that. I now have the benefits of being a positive human being without that nasty side effect.
Originally Posted: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-strangest-symptom-of-depression-that-you-have-ever-experienced
Originally Posted On: 2016-03-31