soucie

Another thing I want to add is that I don't ever use the bipolar as an excuse, but I do offer it as an explanation. It's a very, very fine line and most won't really understand it.

With an excuse, you generally show less remorse (i.e., you use the bipolar to blame your actions on).

With an explanation, you say that you recognize that what you did was completely wrong and now you understand that some of the tendencies of bipolar include... x, y, z (bad judgement, rage attacks, extreme irritation, etc), which may have influenced some of what you did in the past. Now that you understand that and have awareness of it, your intention is to change it or better manage it through meds, therapy, etc).

I think it is good for people to get the explanation; you just want to make sure that it never comes across as an excuse for your behavior. An excuse oftentimes sounds like you are trying to sell a justification for what you did. And that never goes over well.

You don't want to justify it or excuse it. You want people to better understand you and your experience with bipolar. Gentle, simple and direct explanations will help you gain a little more compassion and support - depending on what it is that you did wrong.

I don't know if you are deciding on whether to tell him or not. Sometimes a confession does more bad than good. So before you decide to confess, ask yourself, "To what purpose (or to who) does this serve?"