Yes, to almost all of your questions. Most all antidepressants made me manic, and very quickly (days or a few weeks). As for appearing normal during mania, not as much, but I suppose there were brief periods that strangers, especially, might not have seen a lot of dysfunction. Longer periods, they would.

During the worst depression of my life, one AD just didn't budge the depression, though at the same time I was on my strongest anti-manic medication cocktail of all time. I ended up needing ECT. On a different version of that antidepressant, at a different time, I did become manic quickly. Or more accurately, manic with mixed features. Sometimes that is what happened, or would be elated, initially, then turn mixed.

"Bipolar Blackouts" are not uncommon at all. I don't remember much, or anything, about half of my 10 past psych hospitalizations. I also had some amnesia of times even outside the hospital. Memory issues often accompany trauma. That includes a type of trauma from severe episodes and psychosis. It need not be a trauma resulting from a typical horrible event.

Most of my bipolar blackouts were surely during psychotic periods, but I wouldn't say psychosis was a must for having them. I haven't taken an antidepressant for about 12 years now. Most were prescribed before my bipolar diagnosis, or in hospitals and IOPs soon after, while also on moodstabilizers/antipsychotics. It became apparent to me and my psychiatrists, that ADs were ultimately more de-stabilizing than helpful.

All told, in the long ago past, I had taken 8 different ADs (3 of which were SSRIs), at times. In all cases, I either quit them because of switches to mania or hypomania, or was taken off them because of dangerous switches. The stimulant Provigil also made me manic. High doses of Lamictal did, as well, in combo with Abilify. Sometimes other moodstabilizers and antipsychotics maybe didn't cause mania, but just didn't curb it, sufficiently.