Schizoaffective and schizophreniform disorders

Abstract

The term "Schizoaffective Disorder" has been variously defined but has been generally applied to individuals in whom features of schizophrenia and a mood disorder coexist. Studies of phenomenology, clinical course, and heritability, have, when taken together, yielded results consistent with the view that a majority of individuals who meet criteria for schizoaffective disorder, in fact, have either schizophrenia or a mood disorder with psychotic features and that a minority suffer from a geneotypic concurrence of both illnesses. The treatment of individuals with schizoaffective disorder should initially assume the presence of a psychotic mood disorder, however.