Is schizophrenia a mood disorder? 
5 Likes
I think they have sz meds and different mood stabilizer meds, but if you ask me sz affects your mood all the time
3 Likes
From my understanding sz is a thought disorder
6 Likes
Technically, no.
I’ve seen it classified as a thought disorder and a psychotic disorder.
7 Likes
What would be a mood disorder? 
2 Likes
Bipolar is a mood disorder.
Schizoaffective would, therefore, be a combination of the two. (Thought and mood.)
8 Likes
Schizoaffective is when there is both, a psychotic and a mood disorder.
7 Likes
Sometime i wonder if the moods follow my thought disorder or the other way around… for example, sometimes when I feel down or up , my thoughts are generally related to that. I don’t know which comes first.
1 Like
Schizophrenia is a thought disorder: positive symptoms and negative symptoms, problems with delusions and false beliefs, communication, and talking to things that arent there…
I’m diagnosed with Schizophrenia on its own, my psychiatrist said that the additional component of a mood disorder is difficult to diagnose with schizophrenia…outside of environmental factors…or the stress that symptoms of schizophrenia cause.
Its also important to define what you mean by “disorder” with moods. If you are upset that you’re having hallucinations wouldn’t that be a normal emotional response? Or if you cry during a movie isnt that a normal emotional response? Or if you lose a loved one, such as bereavement, isnt that a normal thing to be emotionally sad and withdrawn for a time?
I dont think its fair to many of us that we are told our emotions aren’t normal…although I have also at times been told Im rapid-cycling, or manic…and I can’t discern that from psychosis…so the labels themselves are confusing for me too…and most therapists I have talked to say they dont think I have schizophrenia, but instead Bipolar1 where I would be manic…not psychotic…but the mania would look like psychosis if left untreated…
lots of people have had issues I noticed, with their treatment teams not being sure whether to call it schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or bipolar…
1 Like
As I understand it, schizophrenia is the only mental disorder that is actually based in the brain, rather than simply psychological
1 Like
I was also told by my case worker that people with Bipolar often cant handle SSRI’s or anti-depressants…which I cant…so I dont know if I should ask my psychiatrist to re-evaluate my diagnosis and change it to bipolar or if its even worth it anymore to try and self-advocate…
2 Likes
Sz can affect how you think act and feel so that includes mood but whether you have a mood disorder pretty much depends if it needs to be treated separately
2 Likes
I was taken off antipsychotics and prescribed an antidepressant and it did not go well. I had another psychosis but the pdocs are all conflicting in their opinions. If one says I have a mood disorder, another one I met recently doesn’t want to change the diagnosis of schizoaffective which I got years ago (he’s a locum)
2 Likes
I think bipolar is too.
3 Likes
I ask this because I got a paper today saying the reason I take Clozapine is because of a mood disorder. 
They may be referring to a mood disorder (depression, bipolar) or schizoaffective, but I am not sure…
1 Like
Actually i should say i dont have the exact right way of thinking about it as a mood disorder because treating it separately from sz is not necessarily correct. It does affect mood but it is not purely a mood disorder.
2 Likes
the same thing happened to me in 2016. I had a different psychiatrist who noticed the ADHD meds were helping me with basic tasks and removed my anxiety/boosted my confidence with driving…but then also sorta started me with a slow spiral into mania I think…then I was put on Strattera, and all these other meds, she wanted to try Lithium on me but I never tried that…I started binge drinking too…and the therapist there was using DBT on me for borderline without diagnosing me with borderline…I mean they were trying to help but it complicated things…then I was labeled with schizoaffective…but they kicked me out of the program for “missing too many appointments” but I think moreso it was liability and they didnt know what they were doing/plus being a private practice they could do things like discriminate against patients for missing an appointment and over-charge…
I was then re-evaluated when applying for SSI and told I had Bipolar, anxiety and a “Good Prognosis” leaving me to think I didn’t need anti-psychotics because anti-psychotics are for psychosis…
Perhaps Bipolar1 you still need anti-psychotics just like people with schizoaffective and schizophrenia do…or maybe my schizophrenia went into remission and still needed some maintaining…Abilify is counted for bipolar and schizophrenia, its the only anti-psychotic that works for me though…none of the others do…so I think I need more of a mood stabilizer than anti-psychotic…
2 Likes
It’s not a mood disorder, but the symptoms can adversely affect you mood. If that makes sense. Sometimes all the fallout from being sick can make you feel pretty sad, discouraged and upset, even if you aren’t clinically depressed.
2 Likes
SZ have symptoms of paronioa, hallucinations delusion are the most, but in bipolar only as much as delusion only.
1 Like