I know it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it’s really thrown me, I feel like everything I have ever experienced is a lie, that it wasn’t caused by what I have assumed for so long. My diagnosis has been schizoaffective disorder since 8 or 9 years ago, but my psychiatrist who I have been seeing for 2 yrs has changed it to bipolar with psychotic features. Her recent diagnosis of OCD still stands, but this change from Scz-affective to bipolar has got me questioning everything, even who I am. Am I over-reacting?
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I don’t think that the title of the illness is so important. What is important is to find the right meds. I would be shocked if a pdoc would say that I am no longer schizophrenic
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I guess you’re right, I don’t know why I’m reacting like this. It really is a shock, I feel like it undermines that fact that I could be so deeply psychotic, almost like I have no right to be that psychotic when I have bipolar and not schizophrenia/schizoaffective. Honestly I’ve got myself in a state over it.
Do you have psychosis even when your mood is stable? Then you have schizoaffective
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I’m honestly not sure. I know I’ve had deep depressions, hypomania, mania, mixed episodes, and psychosis, but it’s all such a rollercoaster I can’t tell what is happening when, when I’m unwell I have very little insight or memory of my episodes. So I really don’t know. I thought I knew where I was, had it all figured out, but I really don’t know.
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Schizoaffective and bipolar with psychotic features are virtually the same disorder. The only difference is really the amount of stigma attached to them. I understand how it can make you feel weird, but it really doesn’t change anything.
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They are not the same. Schizoaffective has psychosis even without depression and mania. Even when he has normal mood. Bipolar has psychosis only with mood component
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theres not much difference than your previous. its just a label. what matters is that you improve.
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My psychiatrist thinks I have both, SZA and bipolar.
It’s interchangeable for me.
My therapist diagnosed me with bipolar.
@Ninjastar is right.
It’s basically the same thing.
The stigma is stronger with SZA.
The treatment plan is usually the same for both.
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It’s not the same thing.
I explained before
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It’s not exactly the same, no, but they’re extremely similar. So much so that they have pretty much the same treatment plans.
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Same thing happned to me two weeks ago. Went from sza to bp1 with psychosis and to be honest I already knew was just waiting to have it confirmed…
I’m specifically talking about bipolar type 1 with psychotic features.
No, SZA and bipolar are 2 different disorders, but are very similar in many ways.
With SZA, psychosis occurs outside of mania and a depressive episode.
With bipolar, psychosis occurs during mania or a depressive episode.
But many times the lines are blurred.
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I guess it shouldn’t, I just have this weird thought I can’t shake that if I’m bipolar and not scz-affective then my psychiatrist thinks I must be faking my psychotic symptoms because the psychosis in bipolar isn’t as severe as in sci-affective or scz. Either that, or the things I experienced in psychosis were actually real and not psychosis. And all I have is a mood disorder?
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I know I should try to think like that, but I feel this really strong urge to understand myself and it’s taken a beating. I might ring my CPN tmrw, and ask him about it. I get on pretty well with him, maybe he can explain.
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I had no idea you could have both… I’m going to ring my CPN tmrw and ask him to explain. Maybe that will settle my mind.
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I think the whole sza diagnosis is seen as controversial by a large amount of doctors. Some don’t like to use it at all. I think bipolar with psychotic features fits easier in their paradigm.
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If that is the case, then why are so many people diagnosed with sza, bipolar type? It seems that everyone has that diagnosis.
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