Posted by xjs7 on January 28, 2003, at 18:09:02
In reply to schizoaffective vs psychotic depression, posted by Dave1 on January 27, 2003, at 17:35:41
This is my understanding of the two conditions:
First, there are two types of psychosis: affective psychosis, and nonaffective psychosis.
With affective psychosis, the psychotic symptoms "match" the mood. For example, someone with a low mood might have delusions about being the most evil person on the planet. Or, someone with a high mood might believe he or she is God.
With nonaffective psychosis, the psychotic symptoms don't match the mood. So, someone with a normal mood might believe he or she is a religious figure of great importance. Or, someone with a normal mood might hear voices commanding him or her to commit suicide.
Usually, psychotic depression consists of affective psychosis and depression. Bipolar disorder (with psychotic features) consists of affective psychosis and mania or depression. Schizoaffective disorder consists of nonaffective psychosis and mania or depression. Schizophrenia consists of nonaffective psychosis.
Note that these are just generalizations. Someone with bipolar disorder might experience some nonaffective psychosis and someone with schizophrenia might experience affective psychosis. But the diagnoses are based on the overall clinical presentation. I think this is how most psychiatrists choose between the different diagnoses.
Remember that diagnoses are mainly just convenient ways to tell what the general symptoms of a person are. With any form of psychosis, AP meds are used, and are generally very effective. So, the exact diagnosis doesn't really matter.
xjs7
poster:xjs7
thread:137811
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030125/msgs/138004.html