See that’s where I got confused in the definitions, though. It says “symptoms” of schizophrenia, not that a person has schizophrenia, itself. Most definitions I’ve read are worded similarly. I don’t take that definition to mean that a person with sza has schizophrenia, just that his/her condition has similar symptoms.
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My understanding is that it is its own disorder, not a subtype of schizophrenia. The etiologies of schizophrenia and schizoaffective aren’t entirely understood, though - sz might be several distinct disorders lumped together under one umbrella - so I honestly don’t think it matters how it’s categorized.
Is there a reason this is troubling you?
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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/nash/sfeature/sf_forum_0503d.html
"As a practical matter one can be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder having had symptoms for as little as one month. A person will not be diagnosed with schizophrenia until one has been experiencing symptoms for at least six months. Also, in practice many psychiatrists and psychologists tend to consider schizoaffective disorder as a form of schizophrenia. Others, however, tend to view schizoaffective disorder as being more closely related to bipolar or other major affective disorders."
And I agree with Rhubot, it’s not a very important question to answer once and for all because the diagnostic categories we have today are very rudimentary and will probably change a lot over the next decades. Schizophrenia and schizoaffective could very well be a multitude of different disorders. The same may be true for bipolar. But aside from this, it’s not really correct to say that schizoaffective is both schizophrenia and a mood disorder at the same time. From its conception it’s been thought of as a disorder that is somewhere between schizophrenia and bipolar/unipolar, and the difference in prognosis between people with schizophrenia and people with schizoaffective supports this view.
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what year did they make up the label sza?
For right now (it will change) Schizoaffective is its own separate disorder, but in the DSM 5 and ICD 10 it’s classified together with Schizophrenia.
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Apparently, Wikipedia has a section on the history of schizoaffective disorder which explains this in detail. The term was coined in 1933 and was included as a subtype of schizophrenia in DSM-I (1952) and DSM-II, with a better prognosis that was somewhat towards bipolar disorder. In DSM-III-R (1987) it was formally recognized as a separate disorder. Pretty interesting stuff!
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Thanks Rhubot,
My last psychiatrist said that sza was a type of schizophrenia and I sort of accepted it as probable. Lately, though, I’ve had to discuss my MI with people outside of the mental health field and I keep telling them I have schizophrenia since I know no one knows what sza is. Honestly, I think I asked the question just because I’d prefer not to lie to anyone–I guess it’s not lying if I had incorrect information but I was hoping to get the correct information…
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That is interesting. Thank you.
Currently its not considered a type of Schizophrenia.
But is considered a separate disorder that has “elements” or similar symptoms to Schizophrenia.
Besides the Schizophrenia like symptoms, there is an added mood component - either depression or mania or both.
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The distinctions are so incomprehensible. I care so little about the name that I call what I have schizophrenia on this forum even though my last diagnosis was schizoaffective.
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I wouldn’t bet too much on multiple doctors making the same mistake.
I’ll listen to my pdoc, thank you.
Yea yea whatever. Misrry loves company I know how it is. Thanks but no thanks.