A round-about answer... I am 66 years old and recently finally started meds for bipolar because I no longer could function very well, but my bipolar was evident decades ago.

On one hand, I might be classed as high functioning because I was able to keep a job and got a lot of volunteer work done that was very fulfilling and for which others were appreciative. But I was not high functioning in other areas of my life--like you I could be a good actor so others did not know that I was miserable much of the time. I isolated so others did not see. For many years, I also relied on alcohol to self-medicate my mania and also tried self help and therapists who helped some but not enough. Then alcohol didn't work for me, and a 12 Step program helped some. In short, my personal life and relationships were failures because I was not high functioning in my personal life!

I look back on my life now and wonder what my life would have been like if I had gotten help and meds earlier. With meds, I have become higher functioning at work than I have been in the past 5-10 years, and I regret that time loss in which I could have been more functional at work.

For me, self help and therapy were not enough. Meds by themselves are so far not the complete answer either, though my meds are still being adjusted. But meds make self help and therapy much more effective!

So "high functioning" can be an illusion and a trap because one may think one's self to be high enough functioning to not "need" help. Additionally, work may not be the best measure of "high functioning" because many of us can use work to mask or escape from dealing with our issues, which is what I have discovered through Workaholics Anonymous.

Good luck!