What does schizoaffective-unspec mean?

Answer 1

I'm a mental health professional, (LICSW) but not a physician. Schizoaffective Disorder is a psychotic disorder, and I'm not sure that the "unspecified" qualifier is appropriate for this particular disorder. Basically, Schizoaffective Disorder is when a person is suffering with a major depression, manic episode, or mixed (bi-polar) episode concurrent with symptoms of schizophrenia. "Unspecified" can be used with non-psychotic disorders in certain circumstances when none of the specified types of a disorder seem to fit. For Schizoaffective Disorder, the two types are "Bipolar Type" and "Depressive Type". In this case, the Unspecified qualifier may mean that the provider has not yet determined which of these two types is the more accurate representation of symptoms for the individual.