For years, psychiatrists and medical professionals have said that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are two very distinct mental illnesses. This idea came from a world-renowned German psychiatrist named Emil Kraepelin. Eric Kraepelin has said that bipolar disease and schizophrenia are two very different mental disorders. Up until today, the separation of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia is still being practiced by psychiatrists.
However, you have to consider that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia is very difficult to distinguish from each other. Both have the same signs and symptoms and psychiatrist often makes mistakes when diagnosing a patient with one of the disorders.