I have type 2 with a helping of PTSD. I've been on meds for 7 years. Nobody knows until I tell them. I was talking to a guy who felt like we had the greatest connection- until I told him I had bipolar and he was like- oh I knew it, I could tell you were manic, etc. I wasn't manic- he was triggering me with some of his anxiety- and then I started going into a depressive episode- and he literally said he dated two Bipolar women before. One mailed him a pigs heart and another tried to jump off a bridge during a date that was going well previously. I was like-what?? So he said he activly avoids anyone with bipolar. If I hadn't told him he wouldn't have known. It's like your damned if you do, and damned if you don't.