Schizoaffective disorder: clinical aspects, differential diagnosis, and treatment.

Schizoaffective disorders are a clinical reality and their concept has a long history, but there are still problems regarding their diagnostic definition and nosologic categorization. The present definitions of the International Classification of Disease and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders are not sufficient enough to define schizoaffective disorders, especially because of deficits on the longitudinal axis. Schizoaffective disorders occupy a position between schizophrenia and pure mood disorders, especially regarding prognosis and premorbid and sociodemographic variables. Schizoaffective disorders are recurrent disorders and, therefore, need prophylactic treatment. Suicidal symptomatology is extremely frequent in patients with schizodepressive episodes. The most severe type of schizoaffective disorders is the schizoaffective mixed type. Schizoaffective patients with mixed episodes retire more frequently and at younger ages than other patients with bipolar disorder.