I just lost a girlfriend to this exact thing. Mania made me distant and hurt her emotionally time and time again. It's very tough to be in social settings when you feel like you can't trust your own thoughts. The easiest way I've found to manage this is to identify your triggers for an episode and stay away from them. Also identify the symptoms you know show when you're in an episode. If you have to, write them down and carry them with you and check them daily. Every morning I sit and write out three pages of what is on my mind just to place myself for the day and if I have an episode during the day I stop what i'm doing and write down my feelings and thoughts to work through it. It's not always feasible to do this but when I can it helps.