THE HYPOMANIC PERSONALITY 51taken lightly. It is a disorder characterized by one or more manic epi-
sodes. The mood disturbance of the true manic - depressive is suffi ciently
severe to cause a marked impairment in occupational functioning, social
activities, and relationships. Some manic - depressives also experience
psychotic episodes characterized by delusional thinking, hallucinations,
and/or bizarre behavior. Occasionally manic - depression is extreme
enough to require hospitalization, to prevent harm to the sufferer or
others. Without medication, all manic - depressives have diffi culty func-
tioning normally. With medication, however, even those with a ten-
dency towards psychosis generally do not become psychotic. Any bouts
of madness they do suffer are generally temporary, seldom progressing
to chronic insanity.
Of the three bipolar sub - categories, it is the other two that are more
commonly found in organizational settings. Instead of engaging in truly
manic behavior, with its increasingly explosive highs and potentially
suicidal lows, Bipolar IIs and cyclothymics are prone to hypomanic behav-
ior, or ‘ mildly ’ manic states. According to DSM - IV - TR (p. 362), the
criteria that characterize hypomanic behavior include the following:
A A distinct period of persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood
lasting throughout at least 1 week (or any duration if hospitalization
is necessary).
B During the period of mood disturbance, three (or more) of the fol-
lowing symptoms have persisted (four if the mood is only irritable)
and have been present to a signifi cant degree:
1 Infl ated self - esteem or grandiosity
2 Decreased need for sleep (e.g. [the person] feels rested after only
three hours of sleep)
3 More talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking
4 Flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing
5 Distractibility (i.e. [the person fi nds his or her] attention too easily
drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli)
6 Increase in goal - directed activity (either socially, at work or
school, or sexually) or psychomotor agitation
7 Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a high
potential for painful consequences (e.g. engaging in unrestrained
buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, or foolish business
investments).These hypomanic episodes alternate with depressive episodes (which can
be identifi ed using the DSM criteria applied to major depression and the
depressive phase of manic - depression). During these depressive episodes,
people lose interest and enjoyment in what are normally pleasurable
events. They may experience a sense of emptiness and futility. This