When a Schizoaffective Diagnosis Has Meaning

Recently, there has been a flurry of studies showing that schizoaffective patients, diagnosed using acute symptom complexes, usually turn out to have affective disorders if they are rediagnosed applying more reliable longitudinal parameters. However, Occam's razor cuts both ways. This investigation shows that if schizoaffective illness is diagnosed using the nonacute parameter "presence of interepisodic thought disorder," it looks more like schizophrenia. Schizoaffectives diagnosed this way have earlier onset of illness, tend to remain unmarried, usually do not abuse alcohol or sedatives, have a worse response to psychopharmacological treatments, relapse more frequently, and tend to deteriorate.