Glossary

What is Schizoaffective Disorder

Hopewell has been helping people with schizoaffective disorder to lead more rewarding and meaningful lives in their communities for decades. For more about our program, see this. To find out if Hopewell is right for your situation, call us at 440-426-4009 or use the contact form here.

Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, and symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and/or depression.

The symptoms of schizoaffective disorder can be severe and need to be monitored closely. Depending on the type of mood disorder diagnosed, depressive or bipolar type, people will experience different symptoms:

• Hallucinations, which are seeing or hearing things that aren’t there.
• Delusions, which are false, fixed beliefs that are held regardless of contradictory evidence.
• Disorganized thinking. A person may switch very quickly from one topic to another or provide answers that are completely unrelated.
• Depressed mood. If a person has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder depressive type they will experience feelings of sadness, emptiness, feelings of worthlessness or other symptoms of depression.
• Manic behavior. If a person has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder: bipolar type they will experience feelings of euphoria, racing thoughts, increased risky behavior and other symptoms of mania.

- See more at: http://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Schizoaffective-Disorder