I have a question on Possible misdiagnoses of schizophrenia disorder with bipolar

Havok
1
2h
I’m trying to find out if it’s possible to have both Schizoaffected disorder with bipolar and also have DID? I have found many articles telling the difference between the two in the symptoms but I cannot find any articles which suggests the two May overlap.
I just went through a 10 day episode with my girlfriend. I thought I knew what schizophrenia was as my half brother is diagnosed with it as well. I just got a 10 day crash course in how little I truly understand about this illness. All I’ve been able to uncover so far is comparisons of symptoms showing the difference between the 2.
I have not been able to find any articles suggesting the two can over lap. I am sure she has both. The articles I have read say that one way to tell the difference is that with DID the individual knows the voice its the same personality eveytime while with schizophrenia the voices are random and different with each episode. I am fairly certain that my girlfriend has both she hears the multiple voices constantly talking during these episodes but there is one voice she talks to. Her command voice telling her to do things. I myself have talked to “Mr. A”, as I’ve come to think of him, 4 different times during this. The last time I tried to record the conversation. As soon as she saw the phone she knew I was recording her and wanted the phone. When I refused to give her my phone. Her and Mr. A had a 10 minute conversation whispering too quietly for me to understand completely but from what I gathered he was asking her questions about me and she was answering. He has not talked to me since and eveytime
I’ve tried to comfort her or offer support she would go straight to a 5 to 10 minute hallucination until i would go sit down then she would go back to pacing I can tell when its him by her mannerisms and expressions. Today I tried to tell her what I suspected and tried to show her a YouTube video on Schizoaffected disorder. She watched about 45 seconds of it and went berserk. I had to restrain her and call an ambulance. As soon as I called the ambulance she stopped struggling and started whispering. from the parts I could make out she was hallucinating she under arrest and was being interagated this continued until the moment she was aware the ambulance had arrived then she stopped whispering and was completely unresponsive. I really need help with this i haven’t slept more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time for last 10 days and feel a litte crazy my self.

Hello Ravez: Thank you for sharing your concern with us here on PC. I'm sorry I'm not going to be of any help with this. (Perhaps there may yet be other PC members who will have some thoughts they can share.) In the meantime, however, I noticed this is your first post. So I thought I would at least say welcome to Psych Central.

Most of us, here on PC, are consumers of mental health services not mental health professionals. And, based on what you wrote, it sounds to me as though figuring out what is actually going on with your gf, as well as what to do about it, is a job for a mental health professional... perhaps a psychologist, a psychiatrist or a mental health therapist. You didn't mention if your gf is under the care of any type(s) of mental health professional(s). If not, I think the best thing that could be done to assist her may be to help her to find appropriate mental health treatment.

Here are links to 4 articles, from Psych Central's archives, that may be of interest depending on your gf's current mental health treatment situation:

Supporting Friends and Family Who Have Mental Illnesses

15 Ways To Support a Loved One with Serious Mental Illness

How to Persuade Your Loved One to Seek Professional Help

11 Ways to Help a Loved One in Denial

I hope you find PC to be of benefit.

While neither I nor you can diagnose your girlfriend, it is possible to have schizophrenia/schizoaffective with DID.
A friend of mine from IP had both DID and schizoaffective disorder. With his DID he had two (at least) identities, but he was very self aware in that he knew when he wasn't himself. With his schizoaffective he heard the random voices, and I'm assuming had other symptoms, I'm not exactly sure.
I have schizoaffective disorder and have somewhat toyed with the idea of having DID (although I'm 90% sure I don't have it). Any questions about my friend or myself and I will try to answer if I know.

In theory, nearly any brain may dissociate. I have a poorly defined bipolar slash schizophrenia-spectrum illness with two distinct personality structures that very neatly meet DID criteria. I believe this is is more common with these illnesses than commonly discussed.