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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffDiagnosis of schizoaffective disorder usually comes after an in-depth interview with your doctor. If your doctor suspects a psychiatric condition, he or she might take a complete medical, psychiatric and social history and also ask about symptoms and mental well-being. A physical examination can help rule out other conditions, and a mental health professional will likely be consulted.
To be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, you must meet criteria spelled out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association.
DSM criteria for the diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder include:
- Schizophrenia along with mood symptoms
- A mood disorder along with symptoms of schizophrenia
- Both a mood disorder and schizophrenia
- A psychotic condition other than schizophrenia, plus a mood disorder
Also, diagnosis requires that the condition is not due to the direct effects of a substance or due to a general medical condition.
In addition, the person must never have met the criteria for any other schizophrenic disorder. It's possible that symptoms may be mimicked by other medical conditions, such as steroid use, Cushing's syndrome, HIV-related illness, temporal lobe epilepsy, neurosyphilis, thyroid or parathyroid problems, alcohol or other drug abuse or dependence, and metabolic syndrome.
- 1. Schizoaffective disorder. National Alliance on Mental Illness. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=54&ContentID=23043. Accessed Oct. 22, 2008.
- 2. Schizoaffective disorder. Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals.
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec15/ch202/ch202d.html. Accessed Oct. 22, 2008. - 3. Schizoaffective disorder. In: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2000.
- 4. Schizoaffective disorder. In: Sadock BJ, et al. Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005:1533.
