How do you know if you have a genuinely good idea versus a manic-inspired (or depression-inspired) whim? Or, do good ideas come out of an episode for you?
How can you tell the difference? Do you have someone that you use as a sounding board or do you go it alone?
Absolutely no good ideas came out of either of my manic episode - they are at best sources of much humour to consider in the light of cold, medicated sanity or at worst cringe worthy and/or slightly scary.
If you’re not sure then get a second opinion from someone who knows you well - if their face goes 
, :dubious: or :eek: then it’s the mania talking.
I have learned to let an idea sit for a while and then think about it later. Sometimes the flaw is obvious after I think about it a week later. Sometimes the idea is pretty good and I follow up on it.
I take proper medication. That puts the kibosh on most of my irrational thoughts and ideas (the ones that stem from mania and depression, anyway).
And I monitor my moods, since the medication doesn’t totally cure the mood swings. If I’m going through a time where I’m showing symptoms of hypomania or mild depression, I am on the lookout for the kind of nutty thoughts that those states can produce. They’re pretty obvious.
Mania produces grandiose ideas about what you can accomplish. If I start thinking up big projects at a time when I suddenly feel really energetic, then I know that I’m probably not being realistic and try to rein myself in (if necessary–I tend to channel mania into productive activities like housecleaning). Depression tends to make my outlook overly negative. If I find myself saying “I can’t” or “that won’t work” a lot at a time when I feel tired and anhedonic, it’s a clue that I’m probably being overly pessimistic.
I also get a paranoia element with both mania and depression. Those thoughts are pretty easy to pick out. With mania it tends to be, “Psycho killers are looking in my window at night!!! I need to sleep with a knife under my pillow!!!” With depression, it tends to be, “Everyone is looking at me and thinking that I’m a total loser/failure. They are plotting to fire me/defriend me/disown me.” I know that’s not normal or true. Like anyone thinks about me that much.
Then again, I have always had a lot of insight into my illness compared to many other sufferers. I am very good at identifying abnormal mood states and thoughts. I have always known when I was manic, and that it was a really bad thing. When it happens, if I find I can’t control myself, I check myself into the hospital. Most bipolar people tend to not recognize it when they’re manic, or don’t care and want to ride the high.
I also see a therapist and a psychiatrist regularly. I am honest with them and they act as second and third checks on my emotional states and thoughts. Nobody’s insight into themselves is perfect, and it seems prudent to have someone trustworthy to take your emotional temperature for you.
Yes, I’ve learned this too. Sometimes I have to do it with stuff that seems like it should be basic. When I get the notion to cut my hair it is usually born of a manic moment. I also usually want to cut all of my hair off which is pretty drastic considering that it goes down past my shoulders. By now I realize that this is a crazy idea and that I need to consider how I will deal with the consequences of my proposed actions. This time I compromised and only got about 4 inches cut off instead of going from Rapunzel to pixie cut. This was a much better idea.
I always take proper medication. It gets rid of the major bumps but there are still some ups and downs.
Yes, I try to do this too. Unfortunately, I’ve let alot of really big and really crazy idea slip through the cracks and my friends and family just assume that I’m a little off the wall and usually won’t try to stop me.
Also, I don’t have the classic manic episode since I’m Bipolar 2. So sometimes it’s a little harder to know if it’s me or a moment of mania coming up with ideas. I’ve learned to almost fear a good mood because I know the point of giddiness where I could really go either way. Sometimes it’s almost surreal.