ugh. diagnosis. psychiatry is subjective...and that opens it up to all sorts of problems. anyway...

bipolar II usually means no mania, frequent depression, hypomania and/or milder mixed states (agitated depression I think qualifies with some shrinks). at the softer end, it seems to overlap with some 'personality disorders' ... at the more severe end, it can overlap with what would once, perhaps not so long ago, been considered 'severe endogenous depression.'

bipolar i- mania. severe depression. it used to be understood that the person was normal(ish), even high functioning when not in the midst of an episode...that's changed, somehow. psychosis, if it occurs, is limited to the mood episode...severe mania might bring psychosis, less often psychotic depression is an issue.

schizoaffective-- the manic type is more similar to bipolar I, in terms of long term outlook. psychosis occurs outside of mood states, but is not the core, defining feature, as one sees in Schizophrenia. the depressive sub-type is, from what I understand (and I could be wrong) a lot more like Schizophrenia, in terms of long term outlook and such...severe depressive states, psychosis both during the depressive states and when in a more or less normal mood.

now, that's just -my- understanding of dsm-checklists. i could be wrong. i think its also worth noting that the labels are mostly useful for billing and guiding treatment, to a point...where the rubber hits the road, go to 2 shrinks, get 3 opinions. it is what it is...

:-)