Hi MJLouise. I understand all of your concerns. I've also been there where I was in bed all day long depressed. Actually, I still spend a bit too much time in bed since it's my comfort nook.

I don't have any children, but I think that they would likely not talk about it much, if at all, at school if you told them not to. I think some kids can be private about such things.

I hope your medications will help you out of your depression. I have read that Wellbutrin tends to be less apt to cause switches to hypomania/mania than other categories of antidepressants. I hope it helps you and lives up to that reputation.

Years before the worst of my bipolar disorder struck, I had been working full-time. We decided to hire a housekeeper to come twice per month to do the heavier cleaning. That spared us hours each weekend. We were slow cleaners. She is fast and thorough. When I became ill my husband kept her because I struggled to do anything. It was good to have that service, and to spare my husband. In recent years, we can barely afford her services but we retain them anyway. Such cleaning is still often intimidating for me. Again, a clean house is good for my mental well-being. Hubby and I do keep the house reasonable in between, but that's plenty to do. I'm not always clearly sick looking anymore, but I don't worry what she thinks. Maybe she thinks I work from home. If not, it's not really her concern. She's nice and she's happy for the work.