Yeah it's definitely a hard situation trying to explain your behaviors to everyone else. You're right when you say they don't "get it." They don't fly off the handle like you or I do so how could they get it? That doesn't make you feel better about it, but I agree with lonegael that you should keep your explanations general. You don't have to say you have bipolar disorder because other people won't understand that if they haven't experienced it.

As far as treatment, I have no clue what your situation is or where you're from (US vs a different country) but in the US at least there are community mental health center that offer free or sliding scale services for people based on their income. You don't have to necessarily qualify for Medicaid or a government program to use services at community mental health centers. There are some areas where these services are more readily available but a google search will often lead you to whatever discounted services are available to you. Hopefully you can figure something out for treatment because it's miserable to suffer with the irritability and all that. Take care and welcome to PsychCentral!!