Why It May Be Harder to Manage Bipolar Disorder During Summer — and Tips for Managing It

July 11, 2023

Featuring:
Howard Weeks, MD, MBA, DFAPA, DFAACAP

Dr. Howard Weeks was featured in this Everyday Health article about managing bipolar disorder during the summer. The writer shares why summer can be a problematic time for those with bipolar disorder and offers tips from professionals, including Dr. Weeks, about how to manage.

If you have bipolar disorder, odds are your mood episodes might coincide with changing seasons. In particular, mania and hypomania — periods of unusual energy, excitement or irritability — tend to be more common in the spring and summer months, according to MedlinePlus.

Though not a formal term used by doctors, mania that’s triggered by the seasonal shift to summer is sometimes referred to as “summer mania.”

People who tend to experience mania in the summer may have seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a term for when someone’s depression or bipolar disorder follows a seasonal pattern, according to MedlinePlus. Approximately 25 percent of people with bipolar disorder also have SAD, per MedlinePlus.

Seasonal mania is most common in the spring and summer, while seasonal depression is most common in the fall and winter, according to a meta-analysis of 29 studies, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice.

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