Hypomania

The Gas Pedal Loosens, the Brake Weakens

Your brain's reward circuit is like a car's gas pedal (dopamine tells you to go after goals), and your prefrontal cortex is the brake pedal (it says when to stop). In hypomania, the gas pedal gets stuck half-pressed — dopamine and norepinephrine pour in, so the engine runs hot and fast. At the same time, the brake pedal loses some friction; the prefrontal cortex is still there, but it's sluggish, so you can steer but you're less likely to pump the brakes at a red light. The sleep-wake timer (the suprachiasmatic nucleus) also glitches, so the car never stops to refuel — you feel fine on 4 hours of sleep because adrenaline (norepinephrine) is pumping. Unlike full mania (where the brakes fail completely and you crash through the guardrail), hypomania is the car weaving between lanes at highway speed, drawing stares but staying on the road.