Is it possible to have both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia?

Yes: But this is best determined by a psychiatrist.

Not really: Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia can have a lot of symptoms in common, but they are quite different disorders and would rarely occur in the same individual. Some people have symptoms suggestive of both, and they may have what is called schizoaffective disorder. Distinguishing among these disorders can be difficult but important, because optimal treatments vary.

Not really : These disorders are sort of mutually exclusive so to say, so you cannot carry both diagnoses. Having said that it is commonly misunderstood as they do share many common symptoms. Both can have psychosis (hallucinations, delusions), mood problems (esp depression) and there is also schizo-affective disorder which is mood and psychotic symptoms but there can be psychosis without mood problems in it.

Schizoaffective: Schizoaffective disorder is an extremely serious illness that can be thought of as a combination of schizophrenic (psychosis) and bipolar disorder (the old term being manic depression) with involves extreme mood swings.

Schizoaffective DO: You have a combination of the symptoms found in both disorders if you have "schizoaffective disorder".

Kind of...: People with schizoaffective disorder have core symptoms of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. "Affective" refers to the mood part, which is more prominent and disabling than is found in schizophrenic patients without severe mood swings. Talk to a mental health professional to learn more about these disorders if you think you have any of these symptoms.