Schizoaffective

Thank you for answering my questions for the 8th.  I do have two more that I hope to make short.

I have had psychotic features during depression, but I have had them when I have not been depressed or manic.  They don't necessarily last two weeks, but I take a small dose of Risperdal and my doctor increased when I started having those thoughts again.  I have to take Risperdal all of the time or I start having paranoid thoughts.  My doctor does not always tell me straight....he told me I was too high functioning to be schizoaffective....you told me one could be high functioning.  I need to know what is going on with me.  Does it sound like schizoaffective to you?

One last one, please, does a poorer prognois in this case mean deterioration or that it can be worse due to psychotic features?

I appreciate your time.  Thank you.

[HFHS-M.D.-HG]

Dear Maria,

Without a formal clinical evaluation, it is difficult to say whether a person has a mood disorder or a schizo affective disorder or a mood disorder with psychotic features. There are standard criteria for the diagnosis of each disorder and careful evaluation can help reach to a conclusion. Your doctor would be the best person to diagnose you. People with psychotic features in general tend to have a poor prognosis when compared to people with just mood component variations in their disorders but there are always exceptions.


Sincerely
HFHS-M.D.