hypomania

hypomania A condition similar to mania but less severe. The symptoms include elevated mood, increased activity, decreased need for sleep, grandiosity, racing thoughts, and the like. However, hypomanic episodes differ in that they do not cause significant distress or impair one’s work, family, or social life to the extent that manic episodes do. Hypomania is one component of cyclothymic disorder, a condition similar to but less severe than bipolar disorder, in which episodes of hypomania alternate with episodes of depression known as dysthymia. See also cyclothymia; mania.