Treatment for schizoaffective disorder
Drug treatments, along with more psychosocial therapies, are often necessary to successfully treat schizoaffective disorder. Drug therapy usually can stop the patient's psychosis, but often only social and occupational rehabilitation therapies can overcome any associated problems such as unemployment, poverty and homelessness.
Medication
Schizoaffective disorder appears to be a combination of thought and mood disorders. It is often treated with a combination of antipsychotic, antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications.
- Some people given oral antipsychotic medication may not take the medication regularly or at all in some cases. In these situations, long acting depot injections can be helpful.
- Antidepressants can often be used as part of the medication treatment. The newer Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor SSRI antidepressants are generally used, with the tricyclic and Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor (MAOI) antidepressants usually avoided. Antidepressant use should be monitored carefully as they can trigger manic episodes, known as ‘switching’.
Schizoaffective disorder is often accompanied by unemployment, poverty and homelessness and as such drug therapy alone usually is insufficient.
Psychosocial treatments
NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) produces guidelines about how particular conditions should be treated in the NHS. Its guideline on schizophrenia states that people with schizoaffective disorder should be offered the psychological intervention of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
The NICE guidelines also recommend that family interventions should also be offered when the family lives with or are in close contact with the person. Family therapy has been found to possibly reduce the risk of relapse and also possibly reduce hospital admission.
NICE guidance recommends that supportive psychotherapy and counselling aren’t offered routinely as specific interventions. However, people’s preferences should be taken into account as well as the availability of other treatments such as CBT.
When a patient with schizoaffective disorder is no longer experiencing psychosis, behaviour therapy can successfully teach necessary social and occupational skills.Self help groups, in which family members of schizoaffective patients discuss and share issues, may also be helpful.
