I've had way more than one psychotic episode and I have that other dsm 5 criterion that makes you automatically qualify for the diagnosis which is that I hear more than one voice having a conversation with each other. But I think that's a weird criterion. I think you're probably right that a lot of people get lumped into sza because no other diagnosis quite fits. I don't think any category out there fits me quite right except maybe bipolar I with psychotic disorder NOS but I don't even know if those two can be combined.

I am quite stable right now especially mood wise (for the first time since I got diagnosed bipolar 3 years ago) which is kind of how all this came about. I had sporadic hallucinations during mood episodes even mild ones through out that time and they've continued and become more frequent now that I am stable. So that's why the whole sza option came about. But anyway I'm thankful I'm stable.