Schizoaffective Disorder

GENERAL INFORMATION:

What is it? Schizoaffective (skits-o-ah-fek-tiv) disorder is a mental illness. You will have this for a long time. It affects your mood and your thinking. Sometimes it is hard to know what is real and what is not real. Sometimes you may feel very depressed (sad), happy, or both. Schizoaffective disorder can change how you think and act around others. There is no cure for schizoaffective disorder. But, medicine and therapy can help.

Causes: It is not known what causes schizoaffective disorder. You may have a chemical imbalance in the brain. Stress cannot cause you to have this illness. But, it can make the symptoms worse. You may be more likely to get this disorder if a family member has schizophrenia (skits-o-fren-e-uh). Having a relative with a mood disorder may also make it more likely for you to get schizoaffective disorder. A woman is more likely to get this illness than a man.

Signs and Symptoms: Signs of schizoaffective disorder usually show up slowly. You may have changes in your eating or sleeping habits, energy level, or weight. You may feel confused, not think clearly, or not be able to make decisions. People close to you may see these changes before you do.

• You may hear, see, or feel things that are not there. This is called hallucinating (huh-lew-sin-a-ting). You may also believe things to be true that are not true. These false beliefs are called delusions (duh-lew-zhuns). Schizoaffective disorder sometimes affects how you think and what you say to others. Your ideas and thoughts may not make sense.
  
  
• Normal activities like work or school may not interest you. You may want to be alone, and not take care of yourself or your home. Sometimes you may have a lot of energy. Or, you may not feel like doing anything.
  
  
• You may show your feelings differently than others. You may show no emotion, which is called having a flat affect. You may do things others think are strange or unusual. You may dress in a strange way. You may be very excited for no obvious reason. Your emotions may not match the event. For example, you may laugh at bad news. You may also have thoughts about hurting yourself or others.

Care: At first, you may be seen in a clinic or your caregiver's office. You and family members may have meetings with your caregiver. These meetings can help you and family members understand schizoaffective disorder. Caregivers will ask you and your family questions about how you feel now. You may also be asked how you have felt in the past. Caregivers will help you talk about your feelings and teach you the best way to care for yourself. Medicine may be used to treat your illness. You may need to go to the hospital for other tests and treatment.

Coping: Accepting that you have schizoaffective disorder is hard. You and those close to you may feel angry, sad, or frightened. These are normal feelings. Talk to your caregivers, family, and friends about your feelings. You may also want to join a support group. This is a group of people who also have schizoaffective disorder. Ask your caregiver for the names and numbers of support groups in your town.

• Ask your health care provider if they know about books that you can read. Reading about your illness might help you better understand it. You can also call or write one of the following national organizations for more information.
  
  

• National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
  60 Cutter Mill Road, Suite 404
  Great Neck, NY 11021
  Phone: 1-800-829-8289
  Web Address: www.narsad.org
  

• National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
  Colonial Place Three, 2107 Wilson Blvd, Suite 300
  Arlington, VA 22201
  Phone: 1-703-524-7600
  Phone: 1-800-950-6264
  Web Address: http://www.nami.org
  

• Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)
  730 N. Franklin Street, Suite 501
  Chicago, IL 60610-7224
  Phone: 1-800-826-3632
  Web Address: http://www.dbsalliance.org
  

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Public Information & Communication Branch
  6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8184, MSC 9663
  Bethesda, MD 20892-9663
  Phone: 1-301-443-4513
  Phone: 1-866-615-6464
  Web Address: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/
  

CARE AGREEMENT:

You have the right to help plan your care. To help with this plan, you must learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. You can then discuss treatment options with your caregivers. Work with them to decide what care may be used to treat you. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

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