Quote:
Originally Posted by sheltiemom2007
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is brilliant. I'm so tired of schizoaffective disorder being misunderstood. I had a schizophrenic father, sister, and grandmother. I know what schizophrenic symptoms look like. Just needing "word salad", no eye contact and "flat affect" are enough to disqualify so many people who think they have schizoaffective disorder. No psychiatrist would make that mistake. I think its coming from improperly trained therapists. I had a therapist diagnose me as schizophrenic because I had psychotic symptoms and because of my family history. She nearly ruined my life. My psychiatrist had to fix it.
I have bipolar 1 disorder with psychotic features, DID with a psychotic part, and PTSD with psychosis. No therapist would ever figure that out. It takes an MD.
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Totally agree with both of you! Psychosis outside of mood episodes is what med students and non-MD clinicians are taught with regard to schizoaffective disorder. It's a simplification for people early in their training. Once in residency, psychiatrists learn that there is much more to schizoaffective disorder - there are significant negative and cognitive symptoms. I was once diagnosed with schizoaffective, BP type, but my current psychiatrist recognized that my previous diagnosis was incorrect. I am now diagnosed with BP I with psychotic features and a delusional disorder, and I am thriving in the workforce after years on disability. Diagnoses have consequences and should be made with great care.