A severe and debilitating psychotic disorder, schizophrenia is often a chronic condition that affects about 1% of the U.S. population. It is characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech, thinking, and behavior as well as negative symptoms, such as emotional flatness and lack of initiation. Symptoms typically emerge in males during late adolescence to early 20s and in females in the late 20s to early 30s, although there is some variability with age onset.

There is thought to be a genetic component in schizophrenia. Research has found possible abnormalities in neurotransmitter activity in this disorder, although the exact mechanisms are still being studied. Additional risk factors include childhood adversity, oppression and discrimination, poverty, and other psychosocial factors.
People with schizophrenia have an increased risk for co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and tobacco use disorder. Sadly, 20% of individuals with schizophrenia will attempt suicide at least once, and 5%-6% will take their own life.

The symptoms of this condition are largely the same as in schizophrenia. What sets them apart is that in schizophreniform disorder, an episode of symptoms will last between 1 and 6 months, whereas in schizophrenia symptoms last at least 6 months and often much longer. It is estimated that approximately 33% of people who are diagnosed with schizophreniform disorder won’t progress to a more severe condition. However, the other two-thirds will eventually be diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

In schizoaffective disorder, a person will have an episode of either mania or major depression at the same time they have positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia (described above). Once the mood episode has passed, the psychotic symptoms persist for at least 2 weeks afterward. As in schizophrenia, 5% of people with this very challenging disorder will die by suicide. Although it typically develops in early adulthood, schizoaffective disorder can emerge any time from adolescence on—even later in life.

People with schizotypal personality disorder display eccentric behaviors and have an uneasiness with interpersonal functioning as well as deficits in interacting with others. They are socially anxious and often have paranoid, strange, superstitious, or unusual beliefs. Stress may trigger psychotic episodes in those who have schizotypal personality disorder. It is estimated that slightly over 3% of the U.S. population have this condition, which does not change much during a person’s lifetime. However, a small percentage of people who have it will develop schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder.

As the name of this condition implies, people with it have delusions—false beliefs to which they hold tightly despite an absence of evidence that they are true or real. Delusions frequently fall into specific themes, such as these:

• Persecutory delusions—the belief that someone or a group of others intends to cause some kind of harm to the person. This is the most common type of delusion.
• Grandiose delusions—falsely believing they have extraordinary abilities (albeit unrecognized), notoriety, or financial success
• Erotomanic delusions—erroneous belief that someone, usually a person they don’t know (i.e. a famous actor) is in love with them
• Jealous delusions—believing that one’s spouse or significant other is being unfaithful, even though they are not. This delusion is more common in men than women.
• Somatic delusions—these involve imagined sensations and/or functions in the body

Although there is generally less impairment in this condition compared to other psychotic disorders, problems in social, relational, and occupational functioning as a result of their false, delusional beliefs are common. There is a genetic link between delusional disorder and both schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder. And some individuals with delusional disorder will eventually develop schizophrenia.

What separates brief psychotic disorder from other psychotic conditions is that there is a quick onset of symptoms which includes at least one of these: delusions, hallucinations, or incoherent/bizarre speech. The symptoms last anywhere from a single day to a full month. Even though this mental illness is a shorter course than the other psychotic disorders, the symptoms are very intense and distressing and can cause significant impairment in functioning as well as an increased risk for suicide. Often, patients will need to be hospitalized until they become stable, but once the episode has fully resolved, they return to their normal level of functioning. Brief psychotic disorder can emerge at almost any time during a person’s lifespan, and half of the people who have one episode will have another at some point. Although there is not a single cause for this condition, it has been known to occur during postpartum or very stressful periods.