Symptoms And Symptoms Of Schizoaffective Disorder

According the fourth edition diagnostic manual of mental disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), the category psychotic disorders (Psychosis) include Schizophrenia, paranoid (Delusional), disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, residual type. Other clinical types include Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Affective Disorder/Manic depression, mania, Psychotic depression, delusional (paranoid) disorders. These are mental disorders in which the thoughts, affective response or ability to recognize reality, and ability to communicate and relate to others are sufficiently impaired to interfere grossly with the capacity to deal with reality; the classical and general characteristics of psychosis are impaired reality testing,

Schizophrenia is a disease that has plagued societies around the world for centuries, although it was not given its formal name until 1911. It is characterized by the presence of positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are so named because of the presence of altered behaviors, such as delusions, hallucinations (usually auditory), extreme emotions, excited motor activity, and incoherent thoughts and speech. (1,2) In contrast, negative symptoms are described as a lack of behaviors, such as emotion, speech, social interaction, and action. (1,2) These symptoms are by no means concrete. Not all schizophrenic patients will exhibit all or even a majority of these symptoms, and there is some

Schizophrenics can display positive effect symptoms, negative effect symptoms, and cognitive symptoms, often differing in the strength of appearance (www.nimh.nih.gov). Positive effect symptoms describe an individual’s “loss” of reality, commonly in the forms of hallucinations and delusions like hearing voices and false beliefs; meanwhile negative effects show similarities to depression, in relation to a lack of pleasure and negative behavior. Subtly but also present, cognitive effects harm mental processing, attention span, and memory. Diverging from popular conception of dramatic, polar opposite thoughts and torn personalities, schizophrenic individuals possess a much larger and varying amount of symptoms and complications that are just as severe and destructive to one’s life.

Schizoaffective disorder could be diagnosed according DSM-IV that if the patient is with manic ‎episode, major depressive episode or mixed episode along with hallucination, delusions, ‎disorganized speech, disorganized behavior as well as negative symptoms. In order to identify ‎whether patient is in manic episode, there should be an uninterrupted period of illness for one ‎week and the patient is in persistently elevated or irritable mood with symptoms such as inflated ‎self- esteem, decreased need of sleep, distractibility, flight of ideas, more talkative than usual and ‎excessive involvement in pleasureful activities. If a patient is in depressed mood during most of ‎the time for a two-week period with five or more symptoms such as markedly

According to the DSM-5 (2013), the characteristic symptoms of schizophreniform disorder, such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, or negative symptoms, may present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period. Martin is a 21 year-old college student and he had psychotic symptoms, specifically delusions and hallucinations over the past few weeks. Martin’s family and friends have overheard him whispering in an agitated voice. Recently, Martin refused to use his cell phone, claiming that if he uses it, a deadly chip implanted in his brain by evil aliens will activate. At the same time, he has negative symptoms, such as a lack of motivation, he has stopped attending

They can be sensory, as if they think they are burning, tingling or stinging, when in reality they are not. They can feel robotic and apart from their own body or visually see something that is not there. The delusions are when they are holding strong beliefs that are not real, and they also have “loose associations” which they jump from topic to topic. Anhedonia is when a person no longer enjoys or takes pleasure in activities that usually have fun doing. Avolition is the lack of motivation to accomplish goals. A person must be suffering from these disturbances for an extended period of time to be diagnosed as a schizophrenic, because there are other psychotic disorders that have like symptoms. There are different ages people can actually develop this suffering. There is the adolescent onset of ages 10-17 years old, the early adult onset of ages 18-30 years old, the middle age onset of 30-45 years old, and the late onset of 45+ years old. No matter the age group, they all may be in what some refer to as a “land of fantasy”. Schizophrenia has been found in all cultures worldwide. The perception of the illness within the culture can affect the diagnosis, treatment, and the support for the individual who is being examined. Schizophrenic clues that can help determine if one is suffering is when one hears voices or has urges to harm themselves or others, has feelings of being

Schizophrenia is a disease that is on a spectrum, there are five different subtypes. Paranoid schizophrenia is when a person is delusional and suspicious of others plotting against them or their family members. Disorganized schizophrenia also known as ‘hebephrenia’ includes hallucinations as well as illogical and incoherent thought and behaviors. Little or no interest in things, withdrawing and being in a constant daze describes catatonic schizophrenia. Residual schizophrenia includes not being motivated in life anymore, it is an acute version of the illness. Depression is associated with schizoaffective disorder, with them both having to do with frequent mood changes. All of these different types shows that there are a variety of schizophrenics.

Schizophrenia is known to be a devastating brain disorder that negatively affects many aspects of a person’s life, such as; thinking, language, emotions, social behavior, and ability to perceive reality (Varcarolis, 2010). Due to the high comorbidity of schizophrenia, patients often suffer from multiple disorders, when a mood disorder, such as mania, or depression, coexists with the schizophrenia, it is known as a schizoaffective disorder. Patient, A.S., is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder due to her hallucinations, her manic state and paranoia. The purpose of this paper is to form an individualized Care Plan for A.S. in accord with the evidence-based practice and clinical manifestations. It will include the patient’s history (past and present) along with the appropriate interventions. In the paper we will discuss schizoaffective disorder as well as well as the symptoms, thoughts, and actions of a schizoaffective person. Furthermore, the pathophysiology of schizophrenia will be explained thoroughly, followed with the medications and interventions used for this disorder. The hope is to better understand the aspects of schizoaffective disorder and its manifestations, so one better care for a patient with such a disease.

Schizoaffective disorder is a common mental illness that can be simply characterized as a mixture between schizophrenia and various mood disorders,

The cruel disease of schizophrenia effects 1.1% of the world’s population over the age of 18. (Treatment Advocacy Center.) That’s as many as 51 million people at any one time suffering from this life threatening disease. Schizophrenia is a serious mental condition that alters thoughts, feelings, and the actions of the victim. Symptoms of this disease include positive symptoms (disturbances added to everyday life) and negative symptoms (Capabilities lost in everyday life). The most common positive symptom is hallucinations, this is the act of seeing, hearing, feeling or even tasting and smelling something that doesn’t actually exist. The most prevailing form of a hallucination in schizophrenic patients is hearing imaginary

The disease is very uncommon with only .3% or 21.4 million at risk, not all will get the disease. Some symptoms of Schizoaffective disorder include; hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, depression, manic behavior, isolation, bi-polar, and some we will discuss later

When it comes to mental illness many people are rendered incompetent. One such mental illness is known as Schizoaffective disorders, that have various illnesses combined together to affect one’s perception and judgment. Equally important is when people with schizoaffective disorder have sporadic relapses and symptoms emerge that will cause dilemma. There is uncertainty about the prevalence of schizoaffective disorder, but it is stated that the disorder affect female more than males especially the depressive type. A clinical picture of the disorder and the criteria by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition, text revision, (DSM-IV-TR) for this disorder will be presented. In this paper, various symptoms are presented

Schizoaffective disorder is a disorder that is exhibited similarly to schizophrenia and mood disorders. Schizoaffective disorders characteristics consist of both auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, mania, and depression. According to Pagel, “This seems all the more plausible because SAD (schizoaffective disorder), by definition, is characterized by criteria of two disorders (Pagel, 2014, p.239).” Many people have difficulty understanding the differences between schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, and the difference simply is that schizoaffective disorder also exhibits the symptoms of an affective disorder, along with hallucinations. Affective disorders consist of anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. The affective disorder that will be exhibited with schizoaffective disorder is either bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. The bipolar type of schizoaffective disorder will exhibit episodes of hypomania and mania, whereas the major depressive disorder type will exhibit only depression. Other symptoms that can occur with schizoaffective disorder are paranoia, impaired socialization skills, lack of proper hygiene, and inability to perform ADL’s properly. There can be many contributing causes of schizoaffective disorder such as, genetics, substance abuse, brain chemistry, and stress. Schizoaffective disorder can be related to brain chemistry, by chemical and hormone imbalances, delayed development, and exposure

In order to be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder one must meet specific criteria that the DSM-5 clearly outlines. In order to be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder one must meet a number of negative and positive symptoms associated with schizophrenia, these negative symptoms include: false beliefs that are not based in reality, alteration in sensory perceptions, alteration in thought processes, abnormal motor behavior, and a range of symptoms that reduce the person’s ability to function properly (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2016; National Library of Medicine, 2014). In addition to the negative and positive symptoms, the alterations in thought processes and sensory perceptions must not occur concurrently with a mood episode for more than two weeks in the course of the disturbance (APA, 2013). It is crucial that the mood occurrence exists for the entire disturbance including when the symptoms are active and when the symptoms are less prominent (APA, 2013). Lastly, the symptoms experienced must not be caused by substance induced psychosis or any other external factors (APA, 2013). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013) the disorder must include either a manic or a depressive type specifier. Also, in writing out the diagnosis the health care professional must include if the disturbance is the initial episode or one of numerous episodes (APA, 2013). Health care professionals must also identify if the

Some of the chemicals may be low, or too high, causing a person to not be able to process decisions and emotions correctly (‘Schizoid Personality” 1). Another possibility is stress, emotional stress to be exact. This stress can originate from untimely deaths, financial stress, or traumatic situations (“Schizoid Personality” 1). The final and my personal belief of the cause are the parents and family of the effected. If the effected person grows up in a family of emotionally detached individuals, parents that abuse them, or parents that neglect them fully, they are at a dramatically increased risk of developing Schizoid personality disorder.