• Skip to main content
Search
  • Home
  • Services
      • Behavioral Health
      • Bloodless Medicine
      • Brain & Spine
      • Cancer Care
      • Ear, Nose and Throat
      • Emergency Care
      • Geriatric Care
      • Heart & Vascular Care
      • Home Health Care
      • Medical Imaging
      • Minimally Invasive Surgery
      • Orthopedics
      • Pregnancy & Childbirth
      • Primary Care
      • Rehabilitation Services
      • Weight Loss Surgery
      • Wound Healing & Care
      • Women's Health
  • Doctors
      • Find a Primary Care Doctor
      • Find a Doctor
      • Physician Referral
      • Practices:

        Baptist Primary Care
      • Baptist AgeWell
      • Baptist Behavioral Health
      • Baptist Endocrinology
      • Baptist ENT Specialists
      • Baptist Heart Specialists
      • Baptist Infectious Diseases
      • Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Physicians
      • Baptist Neurology
      • Baptist Pulmonary Specialists (Nassau)
      • Baptist Rheumatology
      • Baptist Urology Group (Nassau)
      • Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute
      • Lyerly Neurosurgery
  • Locations
    • Our Hospitals:

      • Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville
      • Baptist Medical Center South
      • Baptist Medical Center Beaches
      • Baptist Medical Center Nassau
      • Baptist Heart Hospital
      • Wolfson Children's Hospital

      Imaging Centers:

      • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
      • Mammography and Bone Density
      • Medical Imaging

      Freestanding Emergency Centers:

      • Baptist Emergency at Clay
      • Baptist Emergency at North
      • Baptist Emergency at Town Center

      Urgent Care Locations:

      • Baptist Health Clinics at Walgreens
      • CareSpot Urgent Care

      Health & Wellness:

      • 4her Center for Women
      • JCA Wellness Connexion
      • Y Healthy Living Centers

      Outpatient Locations:

      • AgeWell Center for Senior Health
      • Baptist Clay Medical Campus
      • Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center
      • Baptist Neurodiagnostic Center
      • Baptist North Medical Campus
      • Cardiac Testing Centers
      • Hill Breast Center
      • Infusion Center
      • Pharmacy
      • Rehabilitation Centers
      • Robotic Spine Surgery
      • Sleep Centers
      • Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center
      • Surgery Centers
      • Wound Care
  • Patient Info
      • Billing & Insurance Information
      • Insurance Plans Accepted
      • Cost Estimate Request
      • Financial Assistance Program
      • My Baptist Connect (Patient Portal)
      • Medical Records
      • Classes and Events
      • Clinical Trials
      • Tell Us What You Think
  • Health Library
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Symptoms
      • Tests
      • Surgeries and Procedures
      • Injuries
      • Nutrition
      • Poison
      • Drug Information
      • Drug Images
      • Health News
      • Video Library
  • About Us
      • Administration
      • Awards & Honors
      • Careers
      • Provider Opportunities
      • Baptist MD Anderson Provider Opportunities
      • Spiritual Care
      • Social Responsibility
      • Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA)
      • Corporate Wellness (PATH)
      • Volunteering
      • Newsroom
  • Juice
      • Health News Overview:

      • Brain, Spine & Nerve
      • Cancer
      • Child Health
      • Community Health
      • Heart & Vascular
      • Mental Health
      • Orthopedics, Bones & Muscles
      • Pregnancy & Childbirth
      • Primary Care
      • Wellness
      • Women's Health
  1. Home
  2. Health Library
  3. Diseases and Conditions
  4. Schizoaffective disorder

Schizoaffective disorder

Diseases and Conditions
Mood disorder - schizoaffective disorder; Psychosis - schizoaffective disorder

Schizoaffective disorder is a mental condition that causes both a loss of contact with reality (psychosis) and mood problems (depression or mania).

The exact cause of schizoaffective disorder is unknown. Changes in genes and chemicals in the brain (neurotransmitters) may play a role.

Schizoaffective disorder is thought to be less common than schizophrenia and mood disorders. Women may have the condition more often than men. Schizoaffective disorder tends to be rare in children.

Symptoms

Symptoms of schizoaffective disorder are different in each person. Often, people with schizoaffective disorder seek treatment for problems with mood, daily function, or abnormal thoughts.

Psychosis and mood problems may occur at the same time or by themselves. The disorder may involve cycles of severe symptoms followed by improvement.

The symptoms of schizoaffective disorder can include:

  • Changes in appetite and energy
  • Disorganized speech that is not logical
  • False beliefs (delusions), such as thinking someone is trying to harm you (paranoia) or thinking that special messages are hidden in common places (delusions of reference)
  • Lack of concern with hygiene or grooming
  • Mood that is either too good, or depressed or irritable
  • Problems sleeping
  • Problems with concentration
  • Sadness or hopelessness
  • Seeing or hearing things that are not there (hallucinations)
  • Social isolation
  • Speaking so quickly that others cannot interrupt you

Exams and Tests

There are no medical tests to diagnose schizoaffective disorder. The health care provider will do a mental health assessment to find out about the person's behavior and symptoms. A psychiatrist may be consulted to confirm the diagnosis.

To be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, the person has symptoms of both psychotic and a mood disorder. In addition, the person must have psychotic symptoms during a period of normal mood for at least 2 weeks.

The combination of psychotic and mood symptoms in schizoaffective disorder can be seen in other illnesses, such as bipolar disorder. Extreme disturbance in mood is an important part of schizoaffective disorder.

Before diagnosing schizoaffective disorder, the provider will rule out medical and drug-related conditions. Other mental disorders that cause psychotic or mood symptoms must also be ruled out. For example, psychotic or mood disorder symptoms can occur in people who:

  • Use cocaine, amphetamines, or phencyclidine (PCP)
  • Have seizure disorders
  • Take steroid medicines

Treatment

Treatment can vary. In general, your provider will prescribe medicines to improve your mood and treat psychosis:

  • Antipsychotic medicines are used to treat psychotic symptoms.
  • Antidepressant medicines, or mood stabilizers, may be prescribed to improve mood.

Talk therapy can help with creating plans, solving problems, and maintaining relationships. Group therapy can help with social isolation.

Support and work training may be helpful for work skills, relationships, money management, and living situations.

Outlook (Prognosis)

People with schizoaffective disorder have a greater chance of going back to their previous level of function than do people with most other psychotic disorders. But long-term treatment is often needed, and results vary from person to person.

Possible Complications

Complications are similar to those for schizophrenia and major mood disorders. These include:

  • Drug use
  • Problems following medical treatment and therapy
  • Problems due to manic behavior (for example, spending sprees, overly sexual behavior)
  • Suicidal behavior

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Call your provider if you or someone you know is experiencing any of the following:

  • Depression with feelings of hopelessness or helplessness
  • Inability to care for basic personal needs
  • Increase in energy and involvement in risky behavior that is sudden and not normal for you (for instance, going days without sleeping and feeling no need for sleep)
  • Strange or unusual thoughts or perceptions
  • Symptoms that get worse or do not improve with treatment
  • Thoughts of suicide or of harming others

References

American Psychiatric Association. Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders. In: American Psychiatric Association, ed. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013:87-122.

Freudenreich O, Brown HE, Holt DJ. Psychosis and schizophrenia. In: Stern TA, Fava M, Wilens TE, Rosenbaum JF, eds. Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 28.

Lyness JM. Psychiatric disorders in medical practice. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 25th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2016:chap 397.

BACK TO TOP

Review Date: 3/26/2018

Reviewed By: Fred K. Berger, MD, addiction and forensic psychiatrist, Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, CA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

 
 
 

 

 

A.D.A.M. content is best viewed in IE9 or above, Fire Fox and Google Chrome browser.
Content is best viewed in IE9 or above, Fire Fox and Google Chrome browser.

Daily Health and Medical News

Results for disorder, disorders, mood, mood disorder - schizoaffective disorder, psychosis

  • Half of U.S. Kids With a Mental Health Disorder Don't Get Treatment
    February 11, 2019

  • Gene-Linked Iron Disorder More Common Than Thought: Study
    January 16, 2019

  • Dead End for Treatment of Polio-Like Disorder Striking Kids
    November 09, 2018

  • People With Movement Disorders May Become Immune to Botox Therapy
    December 28, 2018

  • For Diabetics, Going Vegan May Boost Mood Along With Health
    October 30, 2018

© Copyright 2019 | All Rights Reserved

If you speak another language, assistance services
free of charge, are available to you.

Baptist Health Facebook Baptist Health Twitter Baptist Health on LinkedIn Baptist Health on Instagram Baptist Health on Youtube
Physician Login | Application Login | Employee Login
Quality Measures | Privacy | Non-Discrimination | Comments | Site Map