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psychotic depression

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Q: Psychotic depression?
I’m taking Risperdal for having a psychotic episode which the psychiatrist claims it was due to depression. I’ve been on the drug for a year and a half with very few symptoms in between. I read that people with psychotic depression take Risperdal for only a short period of time. Does the doctor think it may be something other disease and just not telling me? What are your experiences? Also, I have had psychosis before the onset of depression. Your help much appreciated.
Thanks.

A: does the label matter? Try not and get hung up on a label and just be happy a medicine is making you feel better. Labels mean nothing but classification to find meds that help. You got a hole in your bucket and the med fills the hole. Forget about it and get on with life. Hope this helps.

Q: psychotic depression?
can anyone explain psychotic depression to me better? i talked to someone about some weird stuff and they said what i was describing sounded like psychotic depression.

A: Psychotic depression is simply a major depression that also includes delusions and/or hallucinations. Delusions are false beliefs that are firmly held despite strong evidence to the contrary. Common delusions in psychotic depression are of persecution, guilt, poverty, nihilism and somatic abnormality. Hallucinations are usually experienced as voices that make accusatory or derogatory comments to the person. Less commonly there may be visual, olfactory (smell) or tactile (touch) hallucinations. Severity of major depression is graded as mild, moderate, severe without psychotic features or severe with psychotic features.

Q: Which type of medication is used to treat psychotic depression?
I have psychotic depression. I have lost touch with reality. Which medication is used to treat my psychotic depression? Anti-depressants or Anti-psychotics? Thanks in advance.

A: Often, a combination of an SSRI (like prozac, or zoloft, or paxil, or effexor) is used with an antipsychotic medication (abilify, zyprexa, geodon) to treat depression with psychotic features.

Q: what is the specific difference between psychotic depression and schizoaffective and schizophrenia?
I have Psychotic Depression, but I would like to know specifically what is the difference between these disorders. All I can find so far the difference being the insight and depression, but there has to be more to it than that, because if there isnt, it is such a fine line between them. I would like some different insight and information from you all. It would help me a bunch to try to explain it to my skeptical family.

A: In depression with psychotic features, a person’s depression is accompanied by delusions or hallucinations. Often these are filled with self-hate or expectations of being punished. (Delusions are patently absurd or falsifiable thoughts; hallucinations are seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling or otherwise sensing things that are not there.) The primary issue is a depressed mood and the consequent symptoms (poor sleep, appetite, lack of pleasure, low-self-esteem, low sexual drive, suicidal ideation, difficulty concentrating, etc.). Like most depressions, a depressive episode with psychotic features is usually time-limited, and one can usually emerge from the episode to achieve full recovery.

Schizophrenia is a more pure thought disorder that affects about 1% of the US population. It involves extremely disorganized thinking, delusions, hallucinations, social problems, difficulty maintaining employment, and generally poor overall functioning.

Schizoaffective disorder is diagnosed when someone has schizophrenia but with a co-occurring depression or mania.

Most people find that schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder are much more long-lasting, usually life-long. The primary problem with both of them is the thought disorder.

Q: A person with Psychotic Depression can have a productive life?
A person with psychotic depression can have a productive life??? I have psychotic depression and I want to study and work. Am I going to be able to do it?

A: I think if you and your doctor have found the right medication(s) or combination of medication(s) that works for you, you will be able to work and study. I had psychotic depression six years ago. Luckily it has never come back. Choose a job that is not too stressful for you. Take only a few courses at a time if you want to study. Be sure you have learned how to manage stress before it gets to the point of overwhelming you. Best of luck in the future.

Q: Is psychotic depression a lifelong condition?
I’ve been diagnosed as of right now with psychotic depression. My previous diagnoses were bipolar, psychosis nos, and schizoaffective so I’m not sure exactly what it is. Anyways, I want to know if some people have it for life including both the psychosis and depression. I take meds for it and they are kind of working with lots of side effects. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.
I use alcohol a couple times week.

A: Most of the time any type of psychotic diagnosis is for life, but easily maneged on the correct combinations of medications. Is it the same doctor that has done the variety of diagnosis’s? Also just out of curiosity do you use marijuana or alcohol? Most of the time the side effects on the medications lessen with time. Good Luck

Q: Is schizophrenia often misdiagnosed as psychotic depression and vice versa?
I’m saying this because one psychiatrist suspects undifferentiated schizophrenia and the other psychotic depression.

A: I don’t know about ‘often,’ but it is certainly possible. There’s a lot of overlap in symptoms between the two.

Psychotic depression is just that– depression so severe that the sufferer begins to experience symptoms of psychosis, like delusions or hallucinations. On the other hand, schizophrenia can isolate an individual from others and create fear, anxiety and sadness so overwhelming that the sufferer becomes depressed. Sometimes it’s a chicken-or-egg scenario. If a patient is experiencing both depressive and psychotic symptoms, it can be difficult for a psychiatrist to determine which is caused by the other.

For what it’s worth, schizophrenia usually involves much more delusional and/or disordered thinking than PD; visual hallucinations are also more typical of schizophrenia than PD. The diagnosis will probably also have something to do with the context of the psychotic symptoms: if they occur solely during periods of major depression, the depression is probably the cause, but if they occur even when the individual isn’t depressed, it is more likely that s/he has a disorder on the schizophrenic spectrum.

I assume you’re asking this question on your own behalf. Your psychiatrist(s) will probably have a better idea of which diagnosis, if either, fits after having met with you a few more times. The more information you give them, the more likely you are to receive an accurate diagnosis. Good luck!

Q: Are the mental illnesses Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Psychotic Depression related?
I have a close relative who has been diagnosed with Psychotic Depression. In my research, he seems to have all the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I was wondering if they are related.

A: One can have both of them especially if they think highly of themselves and get “put down” a lot.

Q: Does anyone know if Seroquel and Fluoxetine help with psychotic depression?
That’s what I’m taking, does anyone else take those for psychotic depression, and do they help after a while?

A: Low doses of Seroquel are great at getting you to sleep . They are also great at making forget things like eyeglasses, wallets. It is bad for your blood sugar. Just an all ariund a cheap but dirty little pill.

Doubt much addiction potentional since they tend to tned to be unpleasant and leave you a moron (IMHO).

Also new SSRI’s are b*llsh*it, Want proof? Have heard them sold as street drugs……due yourself some good get some Ativan or Serax.

The pharmacy biz has the ability to literally manufacture peace on earth (benzos) BUT SOMETHING STOPS THEM (THE BOOZE BIZ)

Q: Is psychotic depression, classified as a mental DISABILITY?
is psychotic depression seen as a type of disability?

if so is there any cure?

A: Psychosis and depression is usually Bi-Polar Disease. Either way if you are unable to work and have lost jobs because of your disability or even if you have not had a job you are classified as having a mental disability. You are eligible for Social Security Disability Payments that will give you an income and extra help with food in the form of food stamps. You can apply online now. It takes 6 months to make the determination but at the end of the six months you will receive the amount of money from the day that you applied. Also there are plenty of medications that can help you. Especially the psychosis which is the easiest to treat. But you can’t get any kind of help or recover from your symptoms without seeing a psychiatrist for a correct diagnosis and the right safe medications for you. There is help and you don’t have to live with this. Also for Social Security you have to have seen a doctor, have a correct diagnosis and taking your medications.

The medications don’t cure but they do stop the symptoms allowing you to live a happy and productive life

Q: What do you know about psychotic depression?
okay. so. I was “diagnosed” with bipolar disorder, and given many medications that only increased my problems. I was bored one day, and was looking up the different types of depressions online, and came across psychotic depression, something I have never heard of before, but it made me stop in my tracks. I tried to explain it to my mother, and told her about it, but she only said “Stop self-diagnosing yourself”. The thing is, I DON’T self diagnose, and never have before, this thing really was me, but for some reason, she won’t accept it. She accepted it when I was depressed, and even diagnosed with bipolar depression, but she can’t seem to wrap her brain around the concept of this. I know i need help, but, obviously, i’m on her insurance, and can’t really do much on my own, I need her help. What can i do to …. convince her, i guess, that i do need extended help and treatment to get over this?
:( puh-puh-puh-puhleaaassee answerrrrr :(

A: Bipolar disorder refers to a condition with both mania (extremely elevated moods) and depression (extremely low moods) – I’ll assume that you know what this is since you have already received a diagnosis. Sometimes, people with bipolar can ALSO have symptoms of psychosis. For instance, they might hear voices, have grandiose ideas or delusions (e.g. “i can fly” or “I’m the girlfriend of [a celebrity]“).

Depression, on the other hand, refers to extremely low moods WITHOUT mania. The person is sad, has problems eating and sleeping, feels worthless and can be suicidal. For some people, they ALSO have symptoms of psychosis – they might hear voices, think that the government is chasing them, that kind of thing. Technically speaking, these symptoms of psychosis occur when the person is ALSO depressed. E.g., if a person is going through a period of remission from their depression, then the psychotic symptoms also disappear. However, when the person becomes depressed again (e.g. has another episode), then the psychotic symptoms might come back.

Talk to the doctor that is treating you for bipolar. Tell him or her why you think you might have psychotic depression. Ask to be referred to a psychologist for testing. This is a very complicated issue, but it is important because you need to be on medication that will help with this. Good luck!

Q: Whats the difference between schizo-affective and depression with psychotic features?
Just wondering how you differentiate between schizo-affective and depression with psychotic features?

A: Schizo-affective disorder is a mood disorder with schizophrenic tendencies, a person with SAD may hallucinate, have extreme paranoia(schizophrenia symptoms) and have major ups and downs (mood symptoms) for months on end.

A person with psychotic depression is always in a depressive state, but may experience an episode of psychosis, they could be hallucinating one day and be perfectly fine the next (but still have depression, of course). But a person with schizo-affective disorder will experience psychosis for a longer period of time.

Q: What is the difference between schizophrenia and severe depression with psychotic features?
It appears to me that the two diagnoses are very similar..could it be that severe depression with psychotic episodes is a more conservative diagnisis than schizophrenia? Maybe the first step of diagnosis for schizophrenia? Insight please, and try to explain your answers as in depth as possible.

A: Depression is not part of the diagnositic criteria for schizophrenia, although many schizophrenics do have depression. You might find this description helpfull:

http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/schiz.htm

Q: the difference between depression and psychotic behaviour?
What’s the difference between being ‘psychotic’ and suffering from depression and anxiety (which may eventually lead to suicide attempts) ? I’m writing a paper on Sylvia Plath and these terms are confusing me so are there any psychology students/graduates here who could explain the difference for me? Thanks.

A: Psychosis is split into 2 differant types of symptoms – Positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are so called as something is ‘added’ to a persons life – auditory or visual hallucinations (voices, visions, etc), delusional beliefs, thought disorders (thoughts becoming jumbled, or stopping suddenly) and possible generalised/targeted paranoia. Negative symptoms are when something has been ‘taken’ from a persons life – poor motivation, reduced self esteem, and potential low mood.

Depression is a lowering of the mood, normally following a significant event or series of life stressors. Stress in life also causes hightened anxiety.

Suicide attempts can stem from both depression or psychosis. If a person is feeling hopeless and sees no future for themselves, or a chance of changing things for them then risk indicators would show them at a hightened chance of suicide.

From the very little i know about Sylvia Plath it would appears that she was depressed and not psychotic!
Hope that helps a little!!

Q: do u have to take antipsychotics for psychotic depression?
do u have to take an antipsychotic to treat psychotic depression or would an antidepressant work just as fine.

A: Not necessarily. Probably you would be taking both. Hopefully not though; antipsychotics are really expensive and can have bad side effects. If just an antidepressant works, just take it.

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