- Introduction to Schizophrenia and Related Disorders
- Delusional Disorder
- Brief Psychotic Disorder
- Schizophreniform Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Schizoaffective Disorder
- Substance- or Medication-Induced Psychotic Disorder
- Psychotic Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition
- Other Schizophrenia Spectrum and Psychotic Disorders
- Antipsychotic Medications
People with brief psychotic disorder have at least 1 of the following symptoms:
Delusions (false beliefs that people maintain against strong evidence)
Hallucinations
Disorganized speech
Very disorganized or catatonic (immobile or unresponsive) behavior
Doctors diagnose brief psychotic disorder if the person's symptoms last less than 1 month and another disorder does not better account for symptoms. Other disorders that can produce similar symptoms include adverse effects from medications and/or illicit drugs, medical problems such as a brain tumor or temporal lobe epilepsy, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder. If this condition occurs during an episode of marked stress, it is called brief reactive psychosis.
Treatment of brief psychotic disorder is similar to treatment of schizophrenia and requires a doctor's supervision and sometimes short-term treatment with antipsychotic medications.
Relapse is common, but people with brief psychotic disorder typically function well between episodes and have few or no symptoms. People with brief psychotic disorder appear to be at increased risk of developing schizophrenia or another disorder on the schizophrenia spectrum.
