Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders manifest themselves through hallucinations, delusions, strange thinking and inappropriate behavior. In addition to schizophrenia, there are other psychotic disorders.
Below you will find further information on psychotic disorders and selected psychosis specialists.
The psychotic disorders(psychoses) include
A disorder associated with odd behavior and unusual thoughts and moods. There are no clear and characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia. The course is chronic and treatment is difficult. Some patients respond to neuroleptics.
Paranoia is usually chronic and manifests itself through a single delusional idea or several related delusions ("systematized delusion"). Well-known forms are delusions of persecution, jealousy or love.
People who suffer from delusions of persecution think they are being persecuted. Delusions of love are the delusional conviction that they are adored or loved by a certain person. The conviction has no real connection. It is usually based on assumptions. One-off glances and gestures are over-interpreted.
Drugs are the most common cause of psychosis @ alexkoral /AdobeStock
They usually last for a shorter period of time (around four weeks) and have a benign course with typical schizophrenic symptoms. The disorder usually begins abruptly and acutely.
Folie à deux occurs when a healthy person adopts delusional beliefs from a mentally ill person. Spouses are often affected.
A schizoaffective disorder is present when psychosis and mood swings coexist.
Mood swings can be depressive or manic. Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and speech and inappropriate behaviour are characteristic of psychosis.
Specialists therefore further subdivide schizoaffective disorder into
The first psychosis usually occurs between the ages of 12 and 29, men and women are equally affected @ Photographee.eu /AdobeStockPsychotic disorders are less common than schizophrenia and have a better prognosis. In general, the more pronounced the schizophrenic symptoms, the worse the long-term prognosis.
Around 20 percent of patients have a chronic course, with the remainder experiencing repeated phases of illness. Over a long-term course of 25 years, there is an average of 6 relapses.
Depending on the severity, doctors treat a psychotic disorder as follows:
