Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic psychiatric condition in which the affected individual exhibits symptoms of both mood disorders as well as schizophrenia. The symptoms of mood disorders are severe as those in major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder and the mental and cognitive processes appear to out of touch with reality. The schizophrenic symptoms of the disorder include hallucinations, delusions, disintegration of behavior, thought and personality and fragmentation accompanied by bizarre behavior. Schizoaffective disorder has raised a great deal of controversy as some psychoanalysts and researchers believe that it is a form of schizophrenia, while others feel that it is a psychotic mood disorder.

Characteristics of Schizoaffective Disorder:

Schizoaffective Disorder is a serious mental illness and is a severe mood disorder accompanied by schizophrenic psychosis.Individuals with this disorder exhibit the symptoms of at least one major mood disorder such as unipolar disorder or bipolar disorder and a minimum of two schizophrenic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. In the last two weeks of the disorder, these individuals tend to experience schizophrenic symptoms without the presence of mood symptoms. However, for a significant tenure of illness they exhibit major symptoms of mood disorders.

Symptoms of schizoaffective disorder:

An individual with this disorder has relentless disturbances in the mood pattern such as contrasting delusions accompanied by hallucinations that are similar to those experienced by schizophrenics. However, unlike schizophrenia, these disturbance patterns are extremely episodic in character with a comparatively good forecast for individual attacks and relatively plain gaps between these episodes.

Treatment:

Treatment for this disorder comprises or drugs and psychotherapy or a combination of both. It is best to consult a good psychologist, psychiatrist or clinical social worker if any of the symptoms of unusual behavior followed by major depressive mood are witnessed. A combination of antidepressant, antipsychotic and anti anxiety drugs is administered in the treatment of Schizoaffective Disorder. Psychotherapy along with drugs is often used to stabilize the mood of such patients. The time duration can last from six months to a longer period of time.