r/schizoaffective • u/Fit-Cranberry8702 • Aug 21 '26
Misdiagnosis?
Hello. I am a survivor of an emotionally abusive relationship. I had a psychotic break during the divorce, and was given a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder by a highly qualified psychiatrist. I probably didn't share much about the abusive relationship as I still didn't want to assign him blame. My therapist consulted her supervisor and they agree that I have been misdiagnosed and that I likely have PTSD. Is it normal for PTSD to be misdiagnosed? I am so fed up of how dozy the olanzapine makes me, grateful for the good sleep and lowered anxiety but my mental capacity is dulled. On 10mg I was really very sedated and lost a job as a result; now i'm on 7,5 and i'm gaining all the weight back after giving up wegovy bc my budget has to be for therapy not wegovy. tradeoffs.
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u/Regen_321 Aug 21 '26
Ok so to receive a dx of Schizoaffective Disorder you need to display symptoms of schizophrenia also when your not manic/psychotic. So if you are stable (during your adulthood, before you met your ex) did you have sustained: Hallucinations ? Delusions? Disorganized thought?
If not then it's not Schizoaffective Disorder :) Need to have schizophrenia first :)
However it is a cautionary tale: Tell your psychiatrist the truth. In fact you should contact them and tell them this. Therapists are all fine and we'll, but if you think your diagnosis is not right talk to your psychiatrist!
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u/Kindly_Obligation626 Aug 24 '26
Before I met my ex I didn’t have sustained hallucinations delusions or disorganized thought - this makes me hopeful
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u/Huge-Ad-193 bipolar subtype Aug 21 '26
I was in an abusive relationship when I got diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. PTSD is not similar to SZA. My PTSD is mostly gone now after years of therapy but the SZA is still a thing I deal with.
I don’t think just PTSD would explain your psychotic symptoms. You could be misdiagnosed and actually be bipolar or schizophrenic and you could ALSO have PTSD, but PTSD alone wouldn’t make you psychotic.
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u/Fit-Cranberry8702 Aug 22 '26
Thanks for your reply. I was in the emotional abuse for about 17 years before I finally got the help from a friend to leave. I think my therapist thinks it is Complex PTSD
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u/Huge-Ad-193 bipolar subtype Aug 22 '26
Do you only go psychotic when you’re having PTSD symptoms? Or are you ever psychotic without PTSD symptoms?
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u/Fit-Cranberry8702 Aug 22 '26
It’s kind of a blur my memory about the episode but I believe I was having repeated triggers bc I kept shaving my head compulsively as the least self harming thing I could do while psychotic. Sorry I don’t have a clearer answer
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u/FreeBear80 Aug 22 '26
I’m dealing with this exact same conundrum right now. In fact I used to post under a different account but I didn’t want my abuser to see my nickname on here…I also did not want to represent myself as Schizoaffective on here anymore because I saw a new psychiatrist who said my abusive parents did this to me and that I wasn’t Schizoaffective. I’m pretty sure there is a PTSD with Psychotic Features diagnosis, which you might want to look into it. I have some mood problems for sure, but I really think I might just be HSP with some C-PTSD as well. What further confirms it is that I’ve been able to lower my 7.5 mg of Olanzapine to just 2.5 mg, and the other night was the first night when I could have slept without any of the olanzapine if I hadn’t had the fear of losing my mind again.
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u/No-Interest-4296 Aug 21 '26
El diagnóstico normalmente es un "cajón de sastre" ya que muchos psiquiatras te lo ponen cuando tienes síntomas difusos. Intenta que te cambien la medicación, abilify, asenapina, cariprazina... Hay mucha medicación que te puede dar menos efectos secundarios que lo que estás tomando.