I just received the following comment from Laura regarding my article on psychosis for healthyplace.com. She raises an imporant point- how do you know the difference between the diagnosis of bipolar disorder and schizo-affective disorder?
Hi Julie,
Your article was very helpful for me. It not only educated me but gave me hope which I desperately need right now. My 19 year old son is currently hospitalized after a suicide attempt. They have diagnosed with as BP type 1 but possibly schizoidaffective.
After reading about the psychosis differences between the two, I am hopeful – he seems to display the BP type of psychosis instead of schizphrenic type.
Hi Laura,
I am so glad the blog helped. Schizoaffective disorder is actually easy to understand in terms of a diagnosis- If the psychosis comes with an obvious mood swing- such a psychotic mania- ie, a person could be euphoric with high energy, zero desire to sleep with no tiredness the next day and the belief they are the reincarnation of a famous figure, that is bipolar disorder. If the person has mood swings without psychosis such as a suicidal depression, that is bipolar disorder as well. If a person has psychosis with NO mood swing at the time- in other words they hear voices and feel the police have bugged the house- that would be a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.
Bipolar disorder psychosis can mimic schizophrenia psychosis, as it did with my partner Ivan who was in a three month manic/psychotic episode, but for others, it does fit the pattern I talk about in my psychosis article.
I hope your son is doing better. Please remind him that suicide and suicidal attempts are a normal part of bipolar disorder. He can learn to manage the illness so this doesn’t happen again. He went into the hospital- so he is a strong guy who can get better. It just takes a plan. Julie
Noticed you haven’t blogged lately. Hope you are okay and just busy….Kathy
Hi Kathy,
I have been writing an artilce on the role between physicall illness and mental illness- 20 pages of technical information that has to be put into easy to read and lively prose! 😉
I am back to blogging today.
Julie
Lofty goal, “easy to read and lovely prose’ of technical info.. Glad you are working and well. 🙂
Hi Kathy, Thanks for your kind comments. I have to say that the only time I don’t blog is when I get overwhelmed with work- but I’m loving work so much these days. It’s a miracle to work when I’m not either depressed, manic or psychotic. I tend to write more blogs when I’m sick! I try not to upset people as it’s just the illness and I live through it. I hope you are doing well. We take what we can get and cherish it! Julie
Hi
I have Schizoaffective and bi-polar2. I just want you to know that there is recovery from this illness with proper treatment. I am 48 years old and have not had any symptoms in almost 10 years. I starting taking an a-typical anti-psychotic with my other medicines and the voices stopped as did the psychosis. This happened about 7 years ago, up until then I had done pretty well on my own for 3 years. Before that time was sheer hell for about 13 years, I never thought it would end, but it has.
Hi Julie,
I wrote on one of the other topics last week relating to your book and my undiagnosed husband.I was for a long time told it was all me and I was the problem as I said.Last year I found out that my husbands birth father had schizophrenia.I wonder if it was misdiagnosed and was bipolar?He is deceased now and from what I was able to learn had a horrible confused life and nobody was really able to help him after all the treatments.My husbands family always told my husband that his real father abandoned them and was a alcholic not mentally ill.I know that because of his father, my husband has a one in ten percent chance of having something(and he does).It was not until I was about at the end of my rope with really hard and at times irrational problems in our realtionship,I started to look up stuff on the internet.Things were so confusing and I did not know what was wrong. I finally came upon what I think it is.Bipolar 2.Things all make sense now.Are the two illnesses connected?I did not realise that bipolar can have psychotic behavior too until I was reading your “Loving Someone with Bipolar”
Right now I am stuck with him in denial and not wanting to deal with anything.(I am confused he says)The more I think back into his behavior in the three years we have been married the more I see the pattern.I am doing alot of the things your mentioned in your book and it has helped ,but I cannot talk to him about it at all.It is hard being in this alone.How in the world do you get someone to admit they have a problem and get help?He functions at work and is not too bad with money.His symptoms are mostly evident here at home and in our marriage nobody really sees it.His family lives a long ways away and they are not much help .There is alot of disfunction there.He is from away from here .He has never had a relationship that has lasted and now I know why(that should have been a red light when we were dating!).He has been married twice and had a few girlfriends.It was always their fault-infidelity.I can see why if he treated them the way he has treated me.I am more understandin now that I know this is a illness.It is like you said in the book I have had emotions to work out in my journal!
I have bipolar 1 + schizoeffective disorder. I am taking Resperidone 1 mg twice a day and Lamictal 50mg at night, which has somewhat worked to help stop my delusions about being a secret agent, cops spying on me bugging the house, but i almost to the point where the medicine isn’t going to keep on working at this dosage. I am already slowed down enough during my day because of th medicine. But i am still hearing things and smelling and seeing things that arent there. For instance the other night i swore i had seen a cat outside and i took a second look and there was no cat. I heard someone or thing bannging on my window but there was no one there. I am wondering if i should just get a higher dosage of Resperidone or go to something else.
Julie,
I have bipolar 1 + schizoeffective disorder. I am taking Resperidone 1 mg twice a day and Lamictal 50mg at night, which has somewhat worked to help stop my delusions about being a secret agent, cops spying on me bugging the house, but i almost to the point where the medicine isn
Hi Julie,
My boyfriend has schizo affective disorder. He is always been paranoid that somebody is going to get him , do something bad or wil steal his luggage while walking on the streets. He has panic attack also . I really wanted to help and understand him more and give unconditional love inspite of his condition. But I’m just worried about my safety, if he is capable of harming himself and others in case he try not to take his medicines.