Schizoaffective Disorder is a mental health disorder characterised by both psychotic symptoms (like schizophrenia) and mood symptoms (like bipolar disorder). Episodes of schizoaffective disorder can vary in length and you may be quite well between them. 

Symptoms

Symptoms of schizoaffective disorder are broken down into two parts: psychotic symptoms and mood symptoms. 

Psychotic symptoms include:

  • Hallucinations – this is if you see things that other people can’t see, hear things that other people can’t hear, experience sensations that have no apparent cause (e.g. feeling insects crawling on your skin) or see objects that seem to be distorted or are moving in ways that they normally wouldn’t. A common hallucination is hearing voices
  • Delusions – this is if you have a false belief that no one else shares. You will believe it even if it doesn’t logically make sense or if experiences show it to not be true. An example is that you believe that you can control the weather. You can also have paranoid delusions, which are common. For example, you might feel that something or someone is trying to control or kill you (when you have no reason to believe this)


Generally, you might feel really scared, depressed, angry or happy and excited. You might also feel your thoughts are becoming quite disorganised. Disorganised thinking usually happens as a result of hallucinations and delusions. You may start to feel confused and have racing thoughts, your thoughts may jump from idea to idea, you may start to speak very quickly and quickly change topics of conversation, finding it hard to keep your attention on one thing.


Mood symptoms are like Bipolar Disorder. They include:

  • Manic type – this is if you have symptoms that are mainly manic and can be severe or can be mild (hypomania – when you feel your symptoms are more manageable, e.g. you feel able to go to work and socialise with others). You might feel uncontrollably excited (like you can’t get your words out fast enough), be easily distracted, feel untouchable, be rude or aggressive, sleep very little or not at all, spend money excessively, have risky sexual encounters or misuse drugs and alcohol
  • Depressive type – this is when your mood is dominated by depression. You might feel tired, have low self-esteem or no confidence, withdraw from others, have problems sleeping or sleep too much, self-harm or feel suicidal
  • Mixed type – this is when your symptoms switch between mania and depression in a short space of time.

Causes

The causes of schizoaffective disorder aren’t known, but just like a lot of other mental health problems, factors that can influence its development are:

  • Genetics – you may be more likely to develop schizoaffective disorder if a close member of your family has a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. However, it is possible to develop it even without a family history of mental health problems
  • Stressful life events – you are more likely to develop schizoaffective disorder if you experienced trauma at an age when you were too young to understand and cope with them. This would make you vulnerable to relapsing in times of stress if since then you have been unable to develop healthy coping mechanisms.

How can I help myself?

  • Create a crisis plan – talk to someone you trust about what you would like them to do when you are in a crisis
  • Look after your physical health – get some more sleep, choose a healthier diet and do some exercise!
  • Learn some relaxation techniques – you might want to try meditation or breathing techniques to stay calm in times of stress

Treatment

  • Talking treatments – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on your thoughts, feelings and behaviours and helps you to understand your experiences, teaching you how to recognise and overcome stressful situations.
    Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) focuses on paying attention to the present moment and looking at the things happening around you rather than thinking about your problems over and over. 
  • Family Interventions – this is a form of therapy that includes family and people that you are close with to help you understand any difficulties you are experiencing as a family
  • Medication – you might be prescribed antipsychotic medication to help you with the symptoms of psychosis. You might also be prescribed antidepressants or mood stabilisers to help you with your mood symptoms.