Psychosis is a break from reality...you hallucinate, or have delusions (false beliefs). You don't have to be super manic to be psychotic. I had a period where inanimate objects were telling me to kill myself so that I could be one with the universe. I was "enlightened"-I knew exactly what happened after death, knew that the unity one felt with all existence was better than life. I was also talking to dead people telepathically. I wasn't the least bit depressed; I was more manic than I had ever been. But that still wasn't all that manic-i was still sleeping 7 hours a night, didn't have constant racing thoughts, and I didn't do anything impulsive other than suicidal gestures related to my delusion. So, psychosis can happen independent of severe mania. You just have to be at least a little bit manic or depressed. If you're psychotic when you have a normal mood, then you're schizoaffective.

Contrary to popular belief, psychosis has nothing to do with uncontrollable rage. Rage can be a consequence of psychosis, but it is not synonymous.

I hope that this helps! Psychosis comes in many forms. I have a schizophrenic friend (not bipolar) who hears a voice narrating everything that she does. I'd imagine that that would be quite annoying.