Symptoms And Symptoms Of Schizoaffective Disorder

Information about age of onset and duration of SAD, subtypes of SAD, psychiatric comorbidity and medication use were also obtained. The patients were assessed with an extensive questionnaire battery using observer-rated assessments and self report questionnaires at baseline, post-treatment and at 3 and 12-month follow-ups.

Schizophrenia is a serious debilitating mental illness in which the victim is afflicted with bizarre delusions and prominent hallucinations. The delusions are profoundly invalid beliefs, and the hallucinations are equally invalid perceptions. There is also a disordering of the reasoning process, disordered emotional expression, and loss of motivation for work and social living. Typically, the illness starts in adolescence or early adulthood and, if untreated, usually worsens with age. (Lickey, Gordon, 1991)

“Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic mental health condition mainly characterized by its symptoms of schizophrenia,

Schizophrenia is a complex psychotic disorder evident by impaired thinking, emotions, judgment and behaviors. The person’s grasp of reality may be so disordered that they are unable to filter sensory stimuli and may have intense perceptions of sounds, colors, and other features of their environment. Although there are different levels of severity in symptoms, the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine (Fundukian, Ed., 2014) states that schizophrenia may typically interfere with a person 's ability to think clearly and to know the difference between reality and fantasy. People with schizophrenic symptoms have hallucinations and delusions, and often have difficulty with everyday life. It is a complicated disease that is not well understood and carries significant stigma for its sufferers.

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

According to NAMI (), schizophrenia is a long term mental illness that interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, make decisions, and relate to others, impairing a person from functioning to their full potential when left untreated. For these persons affected, it is many times difficult to distinguish what is real from what is not. “Unfortunately, no single simple course of treatment exists.” Research has linked schizophrenia to a multitude of possible causes” (NAMI).

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

After Meesters modified Rosenthal’s definition, it was possible to diagnose correctly many more patients under the umbrella of SAD. Thus, as greater numbers of people were diagnosed, observed trends began to develop. Three in particular were noticed early on, and continue to prove true today. They included an overall lower rate of SAD in children compared to the general population, an increasing diagnosis rate in adolescents, and a much higher rate in adult females versus males. One study that became instrumental in establishing concrete evidence for the rates in children and adolescents was conducted after the inherent trends were noticed throughout the general population.

Schizophrenia consists of a broad spectrum of diagnostic criteria (both cognitive and emotional dysfunctions) that cause problems in every day functioning (Barlow et al., 2015). This criteria includes the presence of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized/catatonic behaviour, and/or negative symptoms, such as diminished emotional expression (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The prevalence rate of this disorder is estimated to be in the range of 0.2% to 1.5% in the general population (Barlow et al., 2015).

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

The human psyche is one of the most complicated things that exist, psychologists are still nowhere near understanding the complexity of the mind and the disorders that come with the uniqueness of the individual. Schizophrenia is one such disorder that begins to manifest in early adult hood. The disease is characterized by a disconnect from reality, which includes symptoms of hallucinatory affect. This leads to individuals being unable to adapt and cope with their environment which has socioeconomic effects on the individual such as homelessness. Suicide is also more prominent among the schizophrenic population with a rate of almost 5%. The mechanism behind it are just beginning to be unveiled through modern science which gives hope to individuals currently afflicted with this disorder.

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.

“Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder or a group of disorders marked by severely impaired thinking, emotions and behaviors. If untreated, most schizophrenic’s gradually loose interactions with others and their ability to take care of personal needs and grooming. Schizophrenia is classified into two main types: positive and negative, where delusions and hallucinations are presented (Optomist Homeopathy, n.d.)”.

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

Schizoid Personality Disorder is a personality disorder in which an individual chooses to avoid close relationships with other people, takes pleasure in little, if any, activities, appears to be indifferent to others’ opinions of them, and they are typically asexual. Many people confuse schizoid personality disorder with schizophrenia, but they are two separate disorders. Schizoid personality disorder is not a mood disorder nor does an individual with schizoid personality disorder present with symptoms such as paranoia or hallucinations. In some instances, schizoid personality disorder can be a precursor for schizophrenia, but in order to be diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder, an individual must not present with symptoms of schizophrenia.