Schizoaffective Disorder Signs & Treatment

If you are someone that has been diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders, it is really important to treat it with the best possible treatment to recover completely, which is only possible if the diagnosis is correct. Getting to know the difference between schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, you can get a better understanding of the conditions as well as the challenges of treating them. 

More than 21 million people suffer from schizophrenia worldwide making it a major mental health disorder. You might notice someone you know, hearing and seeing things you don’t and are generally out of touch with reality. In such cases, they have either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Getting diagnosed with Psychotic disorders is heartbreaking, as many believe that this means a poor prognosis. Psychotic disorders are imagined and feared to have poor outcomes. This makes people living with these disorders hopeless and alone in their struggles. This blog gives you a better understanding of both schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders and reveals the treatment.

Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder, The Difference

The underlying difference between schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia is the experience. Hallucinations experienced through these disorders disconnect you from reality, interfere with your ability to self-care, healthy relationships, participate in educational activities, and think logically. More detail can be found on Schizoaffective and Schizophrenia Treatment.

However, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders differ in significant ways.

Schizophrenia is defined by positive psychotic symptoms and leads to negative symptoms such as cognitive, and problem-solving difficulties, social withdrawal, and speech disturbances. 

Depending on the type of mood disorder you experience, disorders fall into two types:

• Depressive: Experiencing depressive episodes, but not manic episodes.
• Bipolar: Experience manic episodes and also depressive episodes.

These mood episodes occur independently from psychosis. They are not a response to your psychotic experiences, nor do they result from external triggers. Unlike those with psychotic depression or bipolar disorders, experiences of people with schizoaffective disorder are typically related to mood.

It is important to note that people with schizophrenia also experience mood disturbances, particularly depressed moods, at some stage of their illness. This is mostly in response to schizophrenia itself as the psychosis lifts and you see your situation more clearly, you experience a feeling of helplessness and fear regarding your future. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia mimic symptoms of depression, while depressed moods and effects are common, it is crucial to understand that they do not constitute a mood disorder and distinguishing between these two is essential for a correct diagnosis.

Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder, The Similarities

Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders also share things in common, making the two difficult to distinguish. They begin to show up at the same time, around the age of 20. In both situations, you can expect the person to show the following symptoms.

Hallucinations

Seeing things that aren’t there and hearing voices in your head. In other words, your perceptions trick you to think that you live in a false reality.

Delusions

When you believe things that aren’t true, you’re having delusions. For example, believing you have superpowers, people around you have secret identities or think you can travel through time.

Disorganized thoughts

Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder cause your thoughts to disconnect. You might chatter about unrelated topics or jump from one topic to another. Making it difficult to keep jobs, maintain healthy relationships, or take care of household chores.

Apathy

These disorders make it difficult for people to show their emotions. Their body language communicates indifference and disinterest. Their verbal language is often flat.

Treatment

Treatment for schizoaffective disorder includes a combination of medication and therapy. It’s not easy to treat the disorder, especially when it’s not diagnosed right away. However, through medication and therapy, we can reduce symptoms and improve daily life. 

Therapy

For effective therapy, it’s important to get the correct diagnosis. During misdiagnosis of schizophrenia often,  psychotic symptoms become the primary focus. The untreated mood symptoms continue to negatively affect the person’s well-being. It’s important to talk about symptoms with a therapist, even some that seem less important or unrelated. 

Therapy for schizoaffective disorder includes group therapy, individual counseling, and family or relationship counseling.

• During individual counseling, therapists offer guidance and support for concerns related to the condition, like issues with relationships, school life, or work. They also help people develop goals and learn to recognize triggers. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) also helps people with schizoaffective disorder, it is considered an effective treatment for depression. 
• Group therapy or support groups help patients connect to others who have the same problem. Helping reduce the feeling of isolation and provide space where people can share thoughts and talk about coping with the disorder. 
• Family therapy helps loved ones learn more about schizoaffective disorder and how they can offer the best possible support. People with social support tend to have a better outlook than isolated people.

 Medication

In most cases, a psychiatrist will prescribe medication to treat symptoms of schizoaffective disorder. As people with this condition have mood and psychotic symptoms, it is important to use separate medications to treat each set of symptoms. Along with antipsychotic medication, people who suffer from bipolar disorder may be prescribed lithium or other mood stabilizers. 

People who suffer from the depressive type often are prescribed an antidepressant. 

You could also be prescribed what’s known as an atypical antipsychotic. These medications are antipsychotics that also are mood stabilizers or antidepressants. Check out more Psychotic Disorder Psychiatrist in Cleveland.

Paliperidone, or Invega, is the medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat schizoaffective disorder. This medication can be taken through injection or orally. Clozapine is another medicine used to treat psychosis, it is helpful even when symptoms resist other treatment, so it’s a good choice for people with schizophrenia and other related conditions. 

Get Your Treatment Now!

Both Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders can be treated successfully, but only by proper diagnosis. Highly qualified psychiatrists like the ones here at Cleveland Psychiatry Associates can correctly diagnose these mental illnesses and ensure the right treatment. 

Our treatment plans are quite effective as we approach the disorders from a comprehensive and holistic perspective. Our psychiatrists take into account the context of the patient’s life and environment before the treatment. A combination of medications and psychotherapy generally helps patients overcome the majority of symptoms, but we also recommend programs that help the patient develop social skills.