Schizoaffective Disorder

Schizoaffective disorder is a term which is used to describe a mental disorder which is characterized by moods which are abnormal and also some psychotic components. The various components which make up schizoaffective disorder appear at certain times and these can be used to determine whether one has the disorder or not. When the mood component occurs, it may appear to be either elevated or depressed or these characteristics may appear at the same time, alternating with each other or occurring together, which brings about a distortion in the affected person’s perception. For a full diagnosis of this disorder to be verified, there should be a period of at least two weeks where the patient displays psychosis without mood disorder, and these symptoms of psychosis should not be due to the use of medication or other substances. Schizoaffective disorder tends to affect an individual’s perception and emotions and this results in false perceptions as well as disordered thought processes which include delusions, disorganized speech, and thought process. Due to this, it is very common for those affected by this disorder to have dysfunctions in both their social and occupational lives. The division into depressive and bipolar types of schizoaffective disorder depends on whether an individual has ever had manic, hypomanic or mixed episodes, and symptoms for this disorder normally occur in early adulthood, with symptoms rarely occurring before the age of thirteen (Diabetes Week, 69).

A person who has this disorder tends to experience extreme transformations in mood and has some of the psychotic symptoms which are related to schizophrenia such as hallucinations. The psychotic symptoms are reflected when a person is unable to differentiate between what is real from what is imagined, and these symptoms tend to vary greatly from one person to another (Dodd, 504). While the symptoms may be mild for in certain individuals, they can manifest themselves very severely in others. Some of the symptoms which are displayed when one has schizoaffective disorder are the following: depression, mania, and schizophrenia. Cases of depression in schizoaffective disorder are always accompanied by various characteristics such as the loss of appetite and this tends to result in the loss of weight. Furthermore, the individual’s sleeping patterns also change so that this individual my sleep a lot or very little, depending on their situation. Depression is always accompanied by excessive restlessness as well as a lack of energy in the body. The individual experiences a lack of interest in those activities which he or she was very active in. there are times when an individual my have feelings of being worthless or hopeless and this can bring about guilt or self–blame. Depression may also bring about the inability to think coherently or to concentrate, and the individual may be tempted to resort to suicide as a result.

Schizoaffective disorder is often accompanied by mania which results in the increase in activity of the affected person, and these include work, social, and sexual activities. Mania also results in the increased talking of the individual due to the rapid and racing thoughts which are common symptoms of mania. An individual feels very little need for sleep and may in fact prefer staying up late trying to do other activities. The individual might also be very agitated about nothing important in particular. Furthermore, there is a chance that mania might result in the individual having a very low self-esteem and this brings about very destructive behavior such as having unsafe sex, having spending sprees, as well as driving recklessly. Schizophrenia is one of the signs which enable nurses to identify that a person does, in fact, have schizoaffective disorder (Martin, 1900). One of the symptoms of schizophrenia is delusions; this is where an individual has very strange beliefs which have no real basis in reality, and he or she holds on to these beliefs even when they are presented with facts to the contrary. Hallucinations also affect an individual and this happens when this individual perceives sensations which are not real, such as hearing voices. The individual experiences episodes of disorganized thinking as well as displaying behavior which many would find to be odd or unusual. There are also instances where an individual will be slow in movement or be totally immobile and this is sometimes accompanied by a lack of emotional display in either their face or their speech. There are times when an affected individual has poor motivation and this results in their having problems with speech or with communication.

It is yet to be known exactly what causes schizoaffective disorder, but some researchers in the field believe that factors involves in the genetic and biochemical makeup of individuals, as well as the environment in which they live, might play a significant role (Mental Health Weekly Digest, 226). The tendency for an individual to develop schizoaffective disorder can be genetically acquired when a parent passes it on to them. Moreover, people who display mood disorders tend to have a chemical imbalance in their brains. This imbalance can interfere with the transmission of vital information from the brain and this leads to the symptoms of schizoaffective disorder. There is evidence to suggest that the environment in which one lives can also cause a person to develop schizoaffective disorder. The environment can bring about viral infections, or the social interactions and stressful situations which an individual might experience, may trigger schizoaffective disorder in people who have inherited genes for the development of this disorder (Mental Health Weekly Digest, 120).

Schizoaffective disorder is not the only medical condition which causes disturbances in the thought and mood of individuals, and because of this, it is recommended that all the other causes be ruled out before making a diagnosis. Strokes, brain injuries, problems with the thyroid or adrenal glands, among others, have to be considered first before looking at schizoaffective disorder. The next problem when making a diagnosis for schizoaffective disorder is by distinguishing it from any other bipolar disorder such as manic depression or schizophrenia. This can be a very difficult thing to do because the symptoms of the last mentioned bipolar disorders are also symptoms of schizoaffective disorder. There are no tests for these conditions and a diagnosis tends to be made based on an individual’s medical and personal history as well as the observation of his or her behavior and giving him a psychological diagnostic test (Laursen, 841). One of the most important ways through which schizoaffective disorder is diagnosed from other disorders is through the timing of the symptoms. An incidence of a symptom has to occur for at least a month and this should be accompanied by mood problems as well as thinking disorders. In additions, all other symptoms apart from thinking problems should disappear for at least two weeks during that month. There are times when an individual might display more of one type of symptoms than others and these are classified as manic type, depressive type, or mixed type schizoaffective disorders.

There are several treatment choices for schizoaffective disorder but the most effective way to tackle it is through a combination of medications and psychological interventions . The specific type of treatment that should be administered on a patient depends on various factors. These include include; how severe the symptoms are as well as the type of schizoaffective disorder which the patient has (Schmitt, 89). The use of the following medications is recommended: antipsychotics which help with psychotic symptoms such as paranoia and delusions. Mood stabilizers work towards the smoothing out of the constant changes in mood experienced the manic depressive type of schizoaffective disorder, an example of which is lithium. Antidepressants can be used when depression is suspected to underlie mood disorder and these medications help with symptoms such as hopelessness, loss of concentration and insomnia. In addition to these medications, the individual who has been affected by this disorder should undergo a rigorous psychological treatment, and counseling to enable him or her to cope with their lives as well as to realize that they have a problem. This would greatly help those patients affected in their return to living a normal life.

In conclusion, it can be said that schizoaffective disorder is a very serious condition which should be dealt with as soon as its symptoms are noticed. This condition should be handled with complete understanding by all the people who are affected by it or are in anyway involved in it so that it can be batter managed. Nurses who handle patients with schizoaffective disorder should be given the necessary training on how to handle these patients so that their treatment can proceed more effectively. Many individuals have this disorder but since there is very little public knowledge about it, very few people even know that they have it. To prevent this ignorance in the public from going on, initiatives should be put in place to ensure that the public is made aware of the existence of this disorder as well as the various ways which are available for its treatment. This will not only create a greater understanding of the disorder, but it will also make people more aware of it, and if individuals happen to notice the symptoms in themselves, they may seek immediate treatment.