I used to think schizoaffective was exactly the same as schizophrenia except you had mood symptoms tacked on too. Im learning now that schizophrenia is very different than sza and it presents very differently. I can understand now why some professionals said I was too “high functioning”/“normal” to have sz.
To me it always seemed like sza should be more severe than sz since there is a mood component too but that is not the case from what I have seen. People with sza i have noticed don’t get flat affects and seem to have normal social skills compared to people with sz, who tend not to show emotion and be very withdrawn and give very limited responses to things if at all. Also, I still have not yet met one sz person who was able to say “yes i have sz and hear voices and have delusions” but I have met many people with sza who say “yes i hear voices” etc. It seems they have a better chance at developing insight. (Obviously I know people with sz do develop insight bc of here but I’m just saying it seems more commonly those w sza develop insight).
Those are the differences I have noticed, aside from the mood symptoms. I hesitate to say schizoaffective seems less severe, as the psychosis seems to be just as extreme in both, but it definitely seems that those with sza have a better chance of being “normal passing” if that makes sense due to the presence of social skills/expression.
People always say about me; they didn’t know. Like someone needed to warn them, I have sz. Because when they find out, people with an agenda, accuse me of things. I was never told, I have sza, though.
Well, I have been diagnosed with both sza and sz over the years. Through my studies I have found that one of the major difference(besides the mood component) is that sza people will tend to be more episodic with there psychosis. While, sz people tend to almost always suffer with positive symptoms. Maybe this is why people with sza also seem more high functioning.
I have been told I too am VERY high functioning while on meds.(by my doctors) I almost always pass as “normal” and sometimes I am too emotional yet depending on the Psychiatrist I get labeled one or the other…I work, have a few friends, have had a few girlfriends and still know I am ill.
One thing I have gotten really good at over the last 15 years or so is recognizing when I am becoming psychotic again and hiding my illness when not psychotic. The thing that bugs me is that they have labeled me one or the other over the years so many times I am confused as to what I am officially.
More than one Pdoc have told me that it is more important to concentrate on the symptoms rather than worry about the label. To me it is confusing stuff though…
I am diagnosed sza but I think I really am being followed and recorded. I don’t think it’s a symptom at all. If it were, the meds would make it go away but they don’t. They make other issues go away but not that
I think ninjastar said something like this to me once when I inquired about it. I am very clear about having experienced delusions and hallucinations, and I have no flat affect, and I do pretty well in social situations. I had bipolar before the schizophrenic symptoms started so now I have sza. I am confident that it has a better prognosis than sz alone, just from the YouTube videos I’ve seen. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
I think I know what you mean. For the longest time I had a delusion about the government. A “big brother” type thing? I still get it if I am under enough stress. Usually for me there are no hallucinations. I don’t know if it is a symptom or not, but thankfully it comes and goes for me. What helps me is a lack of caring if they do record me or whatever. I have come to be at peace with it(when it comes) and believe that (hopefully) my worst days are behind me with that.
Maybe if we were living 200 years ago things wouldn’t be this way. Then again we wouldn’t be living in an era with the best treatment science has ever had available.
I think my diagnosis should’ve been changed to SZA. I was put on three meds for mood control. Although when I’m not having extreme moods, I have a very flat affect and speak in mostly monotone, even when joking.
I have noticed I was labeled higher functioning, probably because I’m very socially aware despite not really getting social norms, so I did well enough at seeming put-together. Not so much anymore, though.
It also depends on symptoms severity, some sza can be just like sz. It really depends if you have negative symptoms. From what I have seen here, sza can get negative symptoms but I think sz like me are more likely to have negative symptoms.
@Anna, Tons of sz’s, in my experience, admit to having sz and being delusional and hearing voices, so you’re definitely wrong there. And I myself have been told by people that they “can’t take my flat affect”. I am sza.
She sees people in a hospital. They probably haven’t figured out they are sick yet. I never figured it out until I was out of the hospitalization phase of the illness and stable on high doses of meds.
I’m paranoid sz and a bit envious of szas. It sounds like sza has their life a little better in control. And if I felt moods, I wouldn’t feel so desperately lost.
I’m sza and how it works for me is I have positive symptoms regardless of whether I’m in an episode or not. But when not in an episode they are very mild, infrequent and I can easily say they are just my psychosis and basically ignore them. Versus when I’m in an episode everything is intense and impossible to ignore so I become fixated and struggle with maintaining my insight.
If you have bipolar with psychotic features or depression w psychotic features tho you should really only experience psychosis when having a mood episode and not outside of that.
I didn’t say no people with sz realize it. I even acknowledged I know people with sz have insight because I see plenty of people with sz with insight on here. I am saying in the hospital setting where I work, the people with sza tend to have a lot more insight than those with sz. I haven’t met a single patient with sz that had insight so far, even those being discharged tend to deny they ever had a problem. That doesn’t mean no one in the world with sz has insight. It just means that is what i have observed in the hospital.
I also did not say only people with sz have flat affect, I just said I have noticed it more in those with sz. I haven’t seen a patient with sza with a flat affect yet meanwhile I have only seen one sz patient who did not have one. (And honestly he comes off as being way more sza to me bc he seems quite manic but I’m not the doctor)
yet depending on the Psychiatrist I get labeled one or the other…I work, have a few friends, have had a few girlfriends and still know I am ill.