Yes, they need to choose a correct diagnosis.
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My understanding is the mood component - mania, depression, etc - is what makes it schizoaffective vs. schizophrenia.
But, even though my son has manic spells where he doesnāt sleep for days on end, they stick with paranoid schizophrenia.
They seem to use the same meds a lot of the time, so I donāt worry about it too much. I usually just refer to the symptoms anyway - he has psychosis, bad anxiety and periods of mania. Those things are true no matter what they want to call it - and theyāve called it psychotic depression, psychotic nos, major mood disorder, and now paranoid schizophrenia.
I know thereās a family history of bipolar, but I donāt know anyone elseās details, so maybe thatās just a more comfortable diagnosis for them - or maybe their symptoms arenāt as bad as my sonās. Itās hard to say - bipolar is certainly more socially acceptable than psz.
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Correct, it is very possible and a fact that you can have both schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder and bounce between them over the yearsā¦ I know this for a fact however it really donāt matter as many of the meds are the sameā¦
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I always thought since Schizo affective disorder includes schizophrenia- there would be no need to use separate diagnosis if the mood components were present with the schizophrenic symptomsā¦I would hope that the more precise the diagnosis the more precise the treatmentā¦theoretically.
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Anything in the world is more acceptable than paranoid schizophrenia!! Those words strike fear into people who donāt know, who are ignorant. Sad but true.