If you've encountered schizoaffective disorder in your work with clients, questions about the diagnosis on the licensing exam shouldn't give you much trouble. For everyone else, here's a quick primer. The essential formula to remember with schizoaffective disorder is psychotic symptoms + mood symptoms which are independent of the psychotic symptoms. Common rule-outs: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, MDD with psychotic features.
There are two essential criteria:
- Major mood episode concurrent with symptoms of schizophrenia
- Delusions or hallucinations in the absence of mood symptoms at some point
Specifiers include:
- Bipolar type
- Depressive type
- With catatonia
Risk factors: Having a blood relative with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder; stress; drug use.
For further study:
Schizoaffective disorder at MayoClinic.com
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