Questions.

I get that this forum isn't all that active but I'm really curious so I'm going to try anyway. If you have schizoaffective disorder and wouldn't mind indulging me in my curiosity, I'd appreciate some answers to some questions:

What type of schizoaffective do you have, depressive or bipolar?

What would you say is more prominent in your illness, mood issues or psychosis issues?

How long did it take you to realize and/or accept that you had an illness?

How long did it take your doctors to diagnose you correctly?

Do you trust the diagnosis or do you doubt it? Why or why not?

Hi,

I've been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, but to be honest, it's been so long that I've talked to my psychiatrist about my diagnosis that I'm not even sure if that's the diagnosis that he's using anymore. At any rate, since I do have a schizoaffective diagnosis, I'll do my best to answer your questions.

I would say bipolar, because I've definitely experienced what I can now recognize as manic symptoms. I would describe my illness (or illnesses, if you will) as a psychosis with some manic aspects that is superimposed over a chronic fatigue with hypersomnia, which could very well be looked at as being a depression. The fatigue and hypersomnia began 13 years ago, and the psychosis with the manic aspects began six years ago for me. To the extent that my fatigue and hypersomnia could be described as being "depressive" symptoms, I would say that I'm basically in an ongoing mixed state, which at first made it difficult for me to recognize that there was any mania there. But I do think that I've experienced at least some manic tendencies since the onset of my psychosis, which I think would give me the bipolar subtype of schizoaffective disorder.

Overall, I would probably have to say that my affective/mood issues have been more prominent for me most of the time than my psychosis issues. For me, the chronic fatigue and hypersomnia have been more disabling than the psychosis or the mania and have been more difficult to treat, although the psychosis got me into more trouble when it was really intense for me. Certainly, though, for the majority of the time that's elapsed even since the onset of my psychotic and manic symptoms, it's been the fatigue and hypersomnia (and the difficulty concentrating that tends to go with it) that have seemed to produce the most functional impairment.

Once I started to notice feelings of fatigue and hypersomnia, it was obvious to me that something was wrong, although I didn't know exactly how to best describe what I was experiencing in terms of a specific illness. I was diagnosed first with dysthymic disorder, then bipolar disorder (without psychotic features), and then recurrent major depressive disorder before the onset of my psychotic and manic symptoms. I had no problem accepting any of those diagnoses. When my psychotic and manic symptoms first came on, I didn't think that these new phenomena that I was experiencing were symptoms of a mental illness. Instead, I thought that I was having a spiritual awakening of sorts that was brought on by thinking certain things about the nature of humanity. I haven't completely abandoned the idea that what I call my psychosis might involve some sort of spiritual component, but I think that my symptoms fit too well with those that others with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder with psychotic features experience for me to say that there's no mental illness other than my original symptoms (the fatigue and hypersomnia) going on. But anyway, to answer your question about how long it took for me to recognize that I was experiencing psychotic symptoms following the onset of such symptoms, I would say that it gradually happened about 7-10 months after I started experiencing my psychotic symptoms.

I don't doubt that I have some sort of mental illness with psychotic symptoms and affective symptoms, but I'm not 100 percent sure that schizoaffective disorder is the best fit for the symptoms that I experience. I tend to think that my psychosis is probably more of a manic psychosis than it is a schizophrenic psychosis because it's hard to separate my psychosis from feeling sleepless, feeling restless, feeling distractable, feeling irritable, and having what I think are racing thoughts. So, maybe bipolar disorder with psychotic features would be a better diagnosis for me, but I'm not sure about that, either. I should probably ask my psychiatrist for his explanation concerning his diagnosis for me the next time I go in to see him so I could get a better understanding of where he thinks I fit in as far as having schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder with psychotic features is concerned.

T.

1. Schizoaffective bi-polar type

2. i think they manifest pretty evenly... but they are not the most distressing symptoms i experience.

3. acceptance took while. getting sober was a big part, and so was realizing i need meds after a relapse.

4. i took me years for a diagnosis. alot of shiftiness on the front.

5. i take my diagnosis with a grain of salt. not because i don't believe it's right, just because it's not that pertinent to me.

I have schizo affective bipolar type, the prominent features were both, I had a psychotic thoughts and that went away with mostly with medication. I'm on an anti-psychotic,and the other is the mood swings that affect me daily. I might be up in the morning down by the evening. it took me 6 months to accept my diagnosis I read it least 20 books on the subject . I trust the diagnosis because it describes me to at T.

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What type of schizoaffective do you have, depressive or bipolar?

T-has me as scizoaffective bipolar type
Pdoc-has me as bipolar 1 w. Psychosis

I honestly think they both are the same dx. But pdoc dx. "Looks better"

*What would you say is more prominent in your illness, mood issues or psychosis issues?

I would say mood but i do constantly have a tactile hallucination and some regular auditory hallucinations (trying to find high pitch noise that aren't there)

How long did it take you to realize and/or accept that you had an illness?*

Still really haven't, I like how my pdoc words it better. I can accept that I have bipolar and that I have psychosis just I can't accept I'm not on the bipolar spectrum. But a YouTube video blog has really helped me come closer to accepting it.

How long did it take your doctors to diagnose you correctly?*

Took them about 8 yrs but to be honest I've only ever been truthful with this therapist.

Do you trust the diagnosis or do you doubt it? Why or why not? I trust it because it explains all my symptoms but I hate and fight the dx because it's not on the bipolar spectrum.

What type of schizoaffective do you have, depressive or bipolar?

Schizoaffective bipolar type.

What would you say is more prominent in your illness, mood issues or psychosis issues?

Both equally but right now its more of the psychosis side.

How long did it take you to realize and/or accept that you had an illness?

I still really haven't accepted that I have schizoaffective or any psychotic disorder. I don't think I am psychotic but based on the docs, they all say I am.

How long did it take your doctors to diagnose you correctly?

With one of the docs 5 minutes, literally. I walked in delusional speaking word salad and he says yep, you are schizoaffective. Other docs took a long time and it took several doctors to finally realize that is what I have. The previous diagnosis was bipolar with psychotic features and before that was depression with psychotic features.

Do you trust the diagnosis or do you doubt it? Why or why not?

I doubt the diagnosis very much. While I DO hear voices it is not that common for me. Maybe 20 times a day but its not continuous. My "delusions" which I don't like calling them that because I firmly believe it, so they are not delusions so then I can't have schizoaffective disorder. I don't know why the docs say I am. I only have incoherent sentences during the day because stress increases through the day and my metabolism is very high (for pills... I took a test for that) and I take the pills at night so by the time its day time my symptoms are very prominent. Sometimes to the point of being threatened to be taken to a state hospital.

i flutuate between SzA and P-Sz. so its ook i still answer?

1. ive always been dxd with "Schizoaffective; Depressive subtype"

2. psychosis seems more prominent. because its ongoing. its not always severe or even moderate but its always ongoing.

3. still really havent accepted...

4. well..i was dxd at 17. i mean...i was having problems before but they werent like they are now. but i think partly why i was dxd so young was thought i was extremely honest about what i expereinced. also though since i was 13 my issues with my mental health were largely ignored so i was desperate for help in my teens. getting it from anybody who wanted or offered him. im not like that anymore but my dx still is here becuase its been recognized as getting worse.

5. i feel like its too late to trust it. even though it does mostly explain everything. at one point i thought i might have aspergers. but i decided against testing for that because many things. 1 thing is that schizophrenia can very well look like aspergers in some people with the lack of social skills and withdrawal and a number of things. im most likely Sz anyway considering my cognitive issues have gotten worse as i got older and other stuff that just doesnt happen in Asp. although i did also wonder if i ever had both!

"We're all born to broken people on their most honest day of living"

The Dopamine Flux
www.thedopamineflux.com

Youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/MozePrayIII

What type of schizoaffective do you have, depressive or bipolar?
I have Schizoaffective Depressive Type


What would you say is more prominent in your illness, mood issues or psychosis issues?
Mood issues, totally. I really don't get voices or anything unless I'm under alot of stress or I'm really depressed. However sometimes I hear babies crying, or I hear like a white noise like a TV on the fritz. However I get premonitions. I can tell when airplanes are about to crash. My therapist crapped her pants. I told her that we would have a major airline accident in the next 7 days. Well 2 days later Asiana crashed in San Fransisco. I actually got 302ed because of it, but got released the next day. Apparently I have scared my therapist now. Haven't seen her since and she's cancelled on me twice. I have a med check tomorrow with my DR. so I'll ask about it tomorrow. I also see natural disasters, stuff like that. I dont like being called psychic because I can't read your future, and I can't tell you if you're gonna win the lottery or die tomorrow. It's just really wierd. Ok enough of me blabbering on.

How long did it take you to realize and/or accept that you had an illness?
I've been diagnosed a ton of things. So this is the latest diagnosis. I definetly have something wrong. My meds are doing their job, and do not want them messed with. So what ever I have, meds are working.

How long did it take your doctors to diagnose you correctly?
I still don't know if I'm diagnosed correctly. Who knows. It's been 4 years, and lets see.. Major Depression with Psychosis, Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2, Borderline Personality Disorder, Mood Disorder NOS, and now Schizoaffective Depressive Type.

Do you trust the diagnosis or do you doubt it? Why or why not?
It's not that I don't trust it, I'm not a doctor. But I've been diagnosed so many things in the past that diagnoses really don't mean anything to me anymore. The meds are working, so lets not mess with them. I'm on Disability for something. I honestly don't even know what. It could of been any of those previous diagnoses. Who knows.

What type of schizoaffective do you have, depressive or bipolar?
I avoid the label like the plague. But the issues I identify with. Definitely bipolar type, but very mixed, with an unending dollop of confusion.

What would you say is more prominent in your illness, mood issues or psychosis issues?
Mood - duration wise. Most prominent in terms of debility: psychosis. The negative features of psychosis have not let up in 3 years, and the memories of paranoia have never let me go either. I still get creaped out by some things. I'm not fully convinced that what others believed were delusions actually were so untrue. Sometimes we are able to perceive things that others who think they are so "in their right minds" are blind to. A spiritual awareness is something that doesn't leave you once your eyes have been opened to it.

How long did it take you to realize and/or accept that you had an illness?
30 years

How long did it take your doctors to diagnose you correctly?
Never. (But they thought it was 3 weeks when I first saw a pdoc. It was changed a year later, and then back again soon after that - depends who you talk to). The current diagnostic framework is just that - a framework. It doesn't accurately represent what is actually going on. There is a lot of research still to be done.

Do you trust the diagnosis or do you doubt it? Why or why not?
Ok, I got carried away above.

I know that you started this thread a while ago, so I'm not sure if you still want answers, but what the heck!

Well I went from a diagnosis of bipolar 2 with psychotic features to sza, so I'm guessing bipolar type. Really depression has been my overwhelming problem the last 6 years, with a handful of lovely hypomanic episodes followed immediately by hellish mixed episodes. Pdoc takes me at my word on these as he's not seen anything other than depression and psychotic stuff in me.

I was only diagnosed sza at the end of May, and the diagnosis was only brought up a couple of months before that. Basically the depression was always an issue and, when it was worse, I had some psychotic stuff like voices. However, the last 6 months definitely, but maybe up to a year, the psychotic stuff has been more prominent than the depression. I was still depressed, but less so, and the voices and paranoia were more distressing. Now it's swung back to the depression being worse with the voices almost non-existent, but I don't know if it's just a coincidence or my Abilify/aripiprazole starting to work?

Well I knew something was wrong depression-wise quite quickly 6 years ago because I had completely lost my motivation to study a topic I'd always been looking forward to. It took me 6 months to realise that it wasn't going away on its own and to go to my GP. When pdoc first mentioned a sza diagnosis, I freaked out at the worse prognosis, but over a couple of months I realised that I had whatever I had and my prognosis is whatever it is, regardless of what it says on paper.

In the last 6 years I was diagnosed with depression, then depression with psychotic features, then bipolar 2 with psychotic features, and now schizoaffective, but I can honestly say that my condition has been evolving over that time. I honestly don't think I was sza this time last year, but there have been times when pdocs have ignored symptoms and so I was diagnosed with psychotic features after many months of suffering, and bipolar symptoms after many years of having those types of episodes.

It took me a couple of months to get my head around another change in my diagnosis, mainly because I was scared about what it meant for my life i.e. worse prognosis than bipolar with psychosis, worse stigma etc. But then I realised that it was a more accurate reflection of what had been going on the last 6 months +, and that I am who I am regardless of what the diagnosis is. I am still afraid of the stigma though so haven't told many people.

I hope my rambling helps Atypical

*Willow*

I have bipolar type schizoaffective. My mood seems to be the most troubling. I accepted my diagnosis right away. I have had many different diagnoses over the last 7 years, and no treatment worked for me. I'm hoping this is the correct diagnosis so I can finally get the correct treatment. It gets to be exhausting when nothing and no one can or will help ypu.

Thank you all so much for responding. You guys have really helped me clear up the confusion I've been having about my diagnosis. I really appreciate you all taking the time to open up and share, I know it's scary to have any diagnosis with "schizo" in it or to talk about it.

I know this thread has been concluded, but still wish to add my own experience. I hope no one minds.

First of all, these are very good questions. I often wonder about what other people labeled with this disorder experience.

What type of schizoaffective do you have, depressive or bipolar?

I was never told what type I am. I honestly think they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me exactly.

What would you say is more prominent in your illness, mood issues or psychosis issues?

I feel like the mood issues are more prominent, but that may be because if I'm being delusional, I won't know it.

[My initial diagnosis was psychosis because I thought people were talking about me negatively all the time. I thought many hated me for various
reasons. I still have many thoughts about subtext and peoples subconscious meanings, almost always derogatory to me in some ways. I
sometimes hear voices, but more often will mishear a sound or someone talking and change it into something nasty, especially in large groups.
They're not really concrete halucinations as much as paranoid thoughts.]

[My mood hits moderate highs and deep lows. The lows can turn into anger and me acting out violently.]

How long did it take you to realize and/or accept that you had an illness?

I still don't know if I'm normal and just being a ***** or not. But then again, medications have made my life better, and that's evidence that
something was wrong to begin with.

How long did it take your doctors to diagnose you correctly?

It was a matter of months and some time in the hospital.

Do you trust the diagnosis or do you doubt it? Why or why not?

Someone told me that mental illnesses are unique to the person. My mood and thoughts are so random that it is hard to think that my diagnosis
matters much. I also get irritated by people and have anxiety in social situations to add to the mix.

Thanks