Psychotic Disorders Distinguished From Schizophrenia, Research Paper Example

Clinicians in mental health must take into consideration patient conditions that do not fulfill the criteria for a psychotic disorder or only present with one domain of psychopathology, and “time-limited conditions” must be taken into consideration (APA, 2013, pp. 88-89). The diagnosis of a disorder on the schizophrenia spectrum necessitates the exclusion of any other conditions that may cause psychosis. Psychosis and psychosis-related symptoms, according to the DSM-5, do not always signify that a patients suffers from schizophrenia, as psychosis is not a prerequisite for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Psychosis manifests when a person suffers from a break with reality, and it is often commutable with a psychotic episode in which an individual suffers from delusions because they hear voices or sees things that are not really there, and a large degree of paranoia. Psychosis is not always considered to be a mental health disorder because some afflicted individuals experience psychosis when they have disorders that are psychotic-based, such as schizophrenia. Schizophrenia afflicts people in profound ways, as there are behavioral changes accompanied by other symptoms that last longer than 6 months, result in poor school, work, and social functioning (APA, 2013). Patients who suffer from schizoaffective disorder present with symptoms exhibited by schizophrenic individuals in addition to a certain mood disorder such as bipolar disorder or depression. Schizophreniform disorder patients exhibit schizophrenic symptoms, but they last less than 6 months. Individuals who suffer from brief psychotic disorder have short periods of psychotic behavior as a reaction to a traumatic or stressful event, such as bereavement. As a result, recovery is quick and takes only a few weeks. Those with delusional disorder have a false, fixed belief, known as a delusion, that involve real-life situations that they believe is true, such as having a disease, paranoia about someone following them, etc. These delusions persist for a protracted period of time, usually over one month, according to Criteria A (APA, 2013, p. 90).

Medical personnel often confuse psychosis with a psychotic disorder that is characterized as unspecified (NOS). Psychotic disorder NOS is a generalized disorder that doctors attribute to patients who have suffered from a psychotic episode yet do not meet any of the other criteria for a handful of psychotic-based disorders like schizophrenia. In order to be correctly diagnosed with schizophrenia, an individual must have suffered from several psychotic episodes as well as various other symptoms within a 6-month period (APA, 2013). Furthermore, the patient exhibits a one-month period of active-phase symptoms including disorganized speech, hallucinations, negative symptoms such as avolition, delusions, and catatonic behavior,according to the Diagnostic Criteria V-A (APA, 2013, p. 99). Moreover, criterion V-D states that an individual has to have already been cleared of schizoaffective disorder and bipolar or depressive disorder that presents with psychotic features or psychotic episodes. No major depressive or manic episodes with the active-phase symptoms and present in addition to mood episodes that germinate once active-phase symptoms manifest. However, these episodes are present only for a minute portion of the active and residual periods of the disorder/illness (APA, 2013, p. 99). As such, schizophrenia and psychosis do not constitute  mutually inclusive debilitating medical maladies. Alternative diagnosis of individuals who present with psychosis could include delusional disorder, bipolar disorder with psychosis, brief psychosis, and schizotypal.

References

APA. (2013). Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition Dsm-5