Delusional Disorder, Brief psychotic disorder and Schizophreniform Disorder
Schizophrenia is the most well-known condition of the psychotic disorders but there are a range of conditions that involve psychosis and other schizophrenia-like symptoms. Today psychiatrists often think of schizophrenia as a spectrum of illnesses alongside other psychotic disorders in which one may lead to another.
These other psychotic illnesses include the following:
- Delusional disorder: This involves the person having delusions for atleast 1 month but there are no other psychotic symptoms
- Brief psychotic disorder: This occurs when symptoms of psychosis (auditory, visual hallucinations, paranoia) last for longer than a day but less than a month
- Schizophreniform disorder: This occurs when symptoms of schizophrenia last for less than 6 months. This usually leads to schizophrenia at the 6 month interval
- Schizoaffective disorder: This involves symptoms of schizophrenia, but it also includes and must have significant mood symptoms such as depression or mania