I'm old enough that I really don't care that much what people think, but I do try to hide my depressive episodes at work and am relatively successful at it. By contrast, my hypo/manic episodes are IMPOSSIBLE to hide because they are florid and loud and obnoxious.

Unfortunately, I've had a rough time of it this summer in between all the med tweaks and my natural tendency to be more energized and happy in the warm months. I'm settling down now, but not before I scared the hell out of my staff and even worried my easygoing boss, who gave me "the talk" recently. (Translation: "Whatever you've got to do to get better, do it!!!") My filter has been clogged, which makes my mouth go off completely independent of my brain, and sometimes I get my priorities all mixed up and go chase something that's got nothing whatsoever to do with what I need to be working on.

My depressions, though......When I was diagnosed last winter, my senior floor supervisors were astonished to learn I was BP. They knew I was sometimes loud and vociferous and other times very quiet and calm, but until I switched into mania in early June, they never saw my illness in its full glory. I wish they hadn't. I wish no one I work with had seen that part of it, because they've lost some of their trust in me and that hurts.