I don't think anyone with bipolar disorder is automatically excused from jury duty. There are a heck of a lot of people with bipolar disorder that lead high functioning lives. Why would they be excused?

I do think that if you have a mental illness and you're doing poorly, and/or your doctor thinks jury duty would exacerbate your situation, then you should be excused. I've had my doctor write a letter to excuse me from jury duty for those reasons. They accepted it.

If you went to jury duty and the case involved issues that would make a person with a mental illness unattractive to one of the lawyers, you would then likely be ruled out as a juror. I guess given that, it may be worth mentioning your mental illness in some cases during the juror interviews.