He was an 18 year old boy. He was full of ambition, in spite of his adolescent psychological wounds. He used to be extremely religiously during adolescence, to the extent that he didn't have any serious relationships with the opposite sex.
He used to suffer from severe decreases in mood accompanied by suicidal tendencies and believed that he was being monitored, which kept him living under high stress and even panic.
He was initially diagnosed with psychotic depression, then his diagnosis was changed to schizoaffective disorder because after a differential diagnosis a psychiatrist noticed that the psychotic symptoms occurred even when he was in a normal mood. This is unlike psychotic depression, in which the patient suffers from psychotic symptoms only during the depressive episode.
Due to the shortage in psychotherapy services in his region at that time, he underwent mainly drug therapy (antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and antidepressants). After many trials with different medications for his symptoms, he markedly improved and could live his daily life with a sufficient sense of security, normal mood and absence of delusions. At a later point, psychotherapy services became more readily available which led to more improvement and he became more socially and occupational functioning.
The science behind Schizoaffective Disorder:
Similar to other disorders classified as Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders, Schizoaffective Disorder is currently explained by Dopamine Hypothesis, which claims that the Dopamine system is responsible for triggers in psychotic disorders and their symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions and other symptoms. Its major risk factors are having a parent or sibling with a Schizoaffective Disorder, Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder, environmental factors such as stressful life events and taking mind-altering drugs (mayoclinic.org).
It is mainly treated with psychotropic medications (combination of antipsychotics and antidepressants or mood stabilizers) based on the mood symptoms, if the individual is suffering from manic episodes besides the psychotic symptoms, it is diagnosed as (Schizoaffective Disorder-Bipolar Type), while if the mood symptoms were only depressive, then it considered as (Schizoaffective Disorder-Depressive Type).
But, we should not ignore the important role of psychotherapy (e.g. cognitive behavioural therapy, supportive therapy) and other non-medicinal interventions (e.g. psychoeducation and family support).
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