Maybe youve never heard of schizoaffective disorder.
No matter where you fit in here, this rare and complexmental health conditionis an important one to understand.
A little more understanding and compassion are definitely warranted.
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In the middle, there are people who have some aspects of each condition.
Once you know that, the name of the disorder makes more sense.
Schizo refers to schizophrenia, while affective references how mood disorders can change someones affect, or emotions.
Unsurprisingly, some of the symptoms of schizoaffective disorder must borrow fromschizophrenia.
National Library of Medicine.
National Library of Medicine.
As youre probably gathering, schizoaffective disorder diagnosis is pretty complicated, which well explore more in a bit.
Exploring the possible causes of schizoaffective disorder
Experts dont know exactly what causes the condition.
Like tons of other mental illnesses, its likely a combination of factors.
These include brain structure and chemistry, theMayo Clinicsays.
Scientists are still studying a complex genetic component as well.
National Library of Medicine.
National Library of Medicine.
Many of these genes seem to be the same ones involved in schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
So it seems that heritability plays an important role, but it doesnt tell the whole story.
National Library of Medicine.
Men and women can also experience the disorder a little differently.
That can make determining whats going on really confusing.
That can seem like schizophrenia.
But commonly cited numbers suggest that around 0.3 to 0.5 percent of the population has schizoaffective disorder.
National Library of Medicine.
There was even discussion of removing it altogether from theDSM-5.
Dr. Margolis, for instance, doubts it is a separate condition.
People get too fixated on the distinction, Dr. Margolis says.
Families can be essential to helping a person succeed in becoming increasingly independent, he adds.
This is due in part to the way that the condition impacts peoples behavior.
It is a condition that really interferes with the machinery used for social connections, Dr. Malaspina says.
Its very isolating for people.
That includes effective communication, adhering to social norms, and even agreeing on a shared reality.
This can make it really challenging to keep a job or makefriends.
The other root issue is how society shuns people displaying these behaviors.
Think of the way we often treat individuals experiencing hallucinations in a public setting, Dr. Margolis says.
They dont understand why other people wouldnt understand [how theyre acting].
