Hypomania, non-pathologic sadness, grief, or nostalgia can potentially lead to positive outcomes.

“And it could be that hypomania or brief periods of mania, maybe even an hour a day or 30 minutes a day of composing or writing poetry, maybe even some of the lows that we feel, some of the sadness, some of the grief, some of the nostalgia that we feel provided that it's not pathologic, that it's not persistent for the four or seven days that are diagnostic of bipolar 2 and bipolar 1 disorder respectively, well, then we can start to view emotional states as something that can actually lend themselves to positive outcomes and maybe even to creativity and to improved occupations.”