PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS - Diagnostic Criteria: DSM-IV 

A. DELIRIUM

  • Delirium Due to General Medical Condition

A - Disturbance of consciousness (ie, reduced clarity of awareness of the environment) with reduced ability to focus, sustain, or shift attention.


B - A change in cognition (such as memory deficit, disorientation, language disturbance) or the development of a perceptual disturbance that is not better accounted for by a preexisting, established, or evolving dementia.


C - The disturbance develops over a short period of time (usually hours to days) and tends to fluctuate during the course of the day.


D - There is evidence from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings that the disturbance is caused by the direct physiological consequences of a general medical condition.

  • Substance Intoxication Delirium

A-C: Same as above
D - There is evidence from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings of either (1) or (2):

a.] The symptoms of Criteria A and B developed during substance intoxication
b.] Medication use is etiologically related to the disturbance

  • Substance Withdrawal Delirium

A-C: Same as above
D - There is evidence from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings that the symptoms of Criteria A and B developed during, or shortly after, a withdrawal syndrome.

B. AMNESTIC DISORDERS

  • SUBSTANCE-INDUCED PERSISTING AMNESTIC DISORDER

The development of memory impairment as manifested by impairment in the ability to learn new information or the inability to recall previously learned information.
The memory disturbance causes significant impairment in social or occupational functioning and represents a significant decline from a previous level of functioning.
The memory disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of a delirium or a dementia and persists beyond the usual duration of substance intoxication or withdrawal.
There is evidence from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings that the memory disturbance is etiologically related to persisting effects of substance use (eg, a drug of abuse, a medication).

  • AMNESTIC DISORDER DUE TO A GENERAL MEDICAL CONDITION

The development of memory impairment as manifested by impairment in the ability to learn new information or the inability to recall previously learned information.


The memory disturbance causes significant impairment in social or occupational functioning and represents a significant decline from a previous level of functioning.


The memory disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of a delirium or a dementia.


There is evidence from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings that the disturbance is the direct physiological consequence of a general medical condition (including physical trauma).

C. Substance-Related Disorders

  • Substance Dependence:

A maladaptive pattern of substance use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three (or more) of the following, occurring at any time in the same 12-month period:

  • tolerance

  • withdrawal

  • the substance is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended

  • there is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use

  • a great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance, use the substance, or recover from its effects

  • important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of substance use

  • the substance use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance

  • Substance Abuse:

A maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by one (or more) of the following, occurring within a 12-month period:

(1) recurrent substance use resulting in failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home
(2) recurrent substance use in situations in which it is physically hazardous
(3) recurrent substance-related legal problems
(4) continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance

The symptoms have never met the criteria for substance dependence for this class of substance.

  • Substance Intoxication:

The development of a reversible substance-specific syndrome due to recent ingestion of (or exposure to) a substance.

Clinically significant maladaptive behavioral or psychological changes that are due to the effect of the substance on the central nervous system.

The symptoms are not due to a general medical condition and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder.

  • Substance Withdrawal:

The development of a substance-specific syndrome due to the cessation of (or reduction in) substance use that has been heavy and prolonged.

The substance-specific syndrome causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

The symptoms are not due to a general medical condition and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder.

D. Schizophrenia

Characteristic symptoms: Two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period (or less if successfully treated):

(1) delusions
(2) hallucinations
(3) disorganized speech (eg, frequent derailment or incoherence)
(4) grossly disorganized or cataatonic behavior
(5) negative symptoms: ie, affective flattening, alogia or avolition

Note: Only one Criterion A symptom is required if delusions are bizarre or hallucinations consist of a voice keeping up a running commentary on the person's behavior or thoughts, or two or more voices conversing with each other.

Social/occupational dysfunction: For a significant portion of the time since the onset of the disturbance, one or more major areas of functioning such as work, interpersonal relations or self-care are markedly below the level achieved prior to the onset (or when the onset is in childhood or adolescence, failure to achieve expected level of interpersonal, academic or occupational achievement).

Duration: Continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least 6 months. This 6-month period must include at least 1 month of symptoms (or less if successfully treated) that meet Criterion A (ie, active-phase symptoms) and may include periods of prodromal or residual symptoms. During these prodromal or residual periods, the signs of the disturbance may be manifested by only negative symptoms or two or more symptoms listed in Criterion A present in an attenuated form (eg, odd beliefs, unusual perceptual experiences).

Schizoaffective and mood disorder exclusion: Schizoaffective disorder and mood disorder with psychotic features have been ruled out because either:

(1) no major depressive, manic or mixed episodes have occurred concurrently with the active-phase symptoms or;

(2) if mood episodes have occurred during active-phase symptoms, their total duration has been brief relative to the duration of the active and residual periods.

Substance/general medical condition exclusion: The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (eg, a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.

Relationship to a pervasive developmental disorder: If there is a history of autistic disorder or another pervasive developmental disorder, the additional diagnosis of schizophrenia is made only if prominent delusions or hallucinations are also present for at least a month (or less if successfully treated).

Psychosis, in its narrow definition, is restricted to delusions (false, fixed beliefs) or hallucinations in the absence of insight into their pathologic nature.

Schizophrenia is one of the major forms of psychotic disorder. The concept of schizophrenia as a diagnostic entity is still evolving even though the criteria in use today have been fairly stable for nearly a decade. The current concept of schizophrenia has its origins in the pioneering clinical observations of Emil Kraepelin and Eugen Bleuler.

Kraepelin's great contribution was to distinguish manic-depressive illness (now called bipolar disorder) as a remitting, noncognitively impairing, relatively late-onset psychosis (usually occurring in the fourth decade of life or later) with a usually good vocational and social outcome, from an early-onset psychosis (usually occurring in the second or third decade), which could affect cognition permanently and usually led to poor outcome. This latter psychosis was labeled dementia praecox, the direct precursor of schizophrenia.

Bleuler's major contribution was to suggest schizophrenia as a more appropriate name than dementia praecox because of his observation that the outcome of this illness was neither universally poor nor associated with severe dementia and to suggest that splitting of thought and affect was the central feature of the illness. Bleuler specifically identified four components that described the essence of the syndrome: autism, ambivalence, flat affect, and disturbance of volition.

Kurt Schneider contributed the concept of first-rank symptoms (eg, thought diffusion, thought insertion voices arguing and commenting) which he believed were pathognomonic of schizophrenia. It is now known that the first-rank symptoms are not specific for schizophrenia.

E. Other Psychotic Disorders:

1. SCHIZOPHRENIFORM DISORDER

Criteria A, D, and E of schizophrenia must be met.

An episode of the disorder (including prodromal, active, and residual phases) lasts at least 1 month but less than 6 months. When the diagnosis must be made without waiting for recovery, it should be qualified as "provisional."

* Specify if:

  • Without good prognostic features

  • With good prognostic features: as evidenced by two (or more) of the following:


(1) onset of prominent psychotic symptoms within 4 weeks of the first noticeable change in usual behavior or functioning
(2) confusion or perplexity at the height of the psychotic episode
(3) good premorbid social and occupational functioning
(4) absence of blunted or flat affect

2. SCHIZOAFFECTIVE DISORDER

An uninterrupted period of illness during which, at some time, there is either a major depressive disorder, a manic episode, or a mixed episode concurrent with symptoms that meet Criterion A for schizophrenia.
Note: The major depressive episode must include Criterion A1: depressed mood.
During the same period of illness, there have been delusions or hallucinations for at least 2 weeks in the absence of prominent mood symptoms.
Symptoms that meet criteria for a mood episode are present for a substantial portion of the total duration of the active and residual periods of the illness.
The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (eg, a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.

* Specify type:

  • Bipolar type: if the disturbance includes a manic or a mixed episode (or a manic or a mixed episode and major depressive episodes)

  • Depressive type: if the disturbance only includes major depressive episodes

3. DELUSIONAL DISORDER

  • Nonbizarre delusions (ie, involving situations that occur in real life, such as being followed, poisoned, infected, loved at a distance, or deceived by spouse or lover, or having a disease) of at least 1 month's duration.

  • Criterion A for schizophrenia has never been met.

  • Note: Tactile and olfactory hallucinations may be present in delusional disorder if they are related to the delusional theme.

  • Apart from the impact of the delusion(s) or its ramifications, functioning is not markedly impaired and behavior is not obviously odd or bizarre.

  • If mood episodes have occurred concurrently with delusions, their total duration has been brief relative to the duration of the delusional periods.

  • The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (eg, a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.

* Specify type (the following types are assigned based on the predominant delusional theme):

  • Erotomanic type: delusions that another person, usually of higher status, is in love with the individual

  • Grandiose type: delusions of inflated worth, power, knowledge, identity, or special relationship to a deity or famous person

  • Jealous type: delusions that the individual's sexual partner is unfaithful
    Persecutory type: delusions that the person (or someone to whom the person is close) is being malevolently treated in some way

  • Somatic type: delusions that the person has some physical defect or general medical condition

  • Mixed type: delusions characteristic of more than one of the above types but no one theme predominates

4. BRIEF PSYCHOTIC DISORDER

Presence of one or more of the following symptoms:

(1) delusions
(2) hallucinations
(3) disorganized speech (eg, frequent derailment or incoherence)
(4) grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior

Note: Do not include a symptom if it is a culturally sanctioned response pattern.

Duration of an episode of the disturbance is at least 1 day but less than 1 month, with eventual full return to premorbid level of functioning.

The disturbance is not better accounted for by a mood disorder with psychotic features, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (eg, a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.

* Specify if:

  • With marked stressor(s) (brief reactive psychosis): if symptoms occur shortly after and apparently in response to events that, singly or together, would be markedly stressful to almost anyone in similar circumstances in the person's culture 

  • Without marked stressor(s): if psychotic symptoms do not occur shortly after, or are not apparently in response to events that, singly or together, would be markedly stressful to almost anyone in similar circumstances in the person's culture.

  •  With postpartum onset: if onset within 4 weeks postpartum

5. SHARED PSYCHOTIC DISORDER - "folie à deux"

  • A delusion develops in the context of a close relationship with another person(s), who has an already-established delusion.

  • The delusion is similar in content to that of the person who already has the established delusion.

  • The disturbance is not better accounted for by another psychotic disorder (eg, schizophrenia) or a mood disorder with psychotic features and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (eg, a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.

6. PSYCHOTIC DISORDER DUE TO A GENERAL MEDICAL CONDITION & SUBSTANCE-INDUCED PSYCHOTIC DISORDER

  • Psychotic Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition:

  • Prominent hallucinations or delusions.

  • There is evidence from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings that the disturbance is the direct physiological consequence of a general medical condition.

  • The disturbance is not better accounted for by another mental disorder.

  • The disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of a delirium.

  • Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorder:

  • Prominent hallucinations or delusions.

  • Note: Do not include hallucinations if the person has insight that they are substance induced.

  • There is evidence from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings of either (1) or (2):
    (1) the symptoms in Criterion A developed during, or within a month of, substance intoxication or withdrawal
    (2) medication use is etiologically related to the disturbance

  • The disturbance is not better accounted for by a psychotic disorder that is not substance induced.

  • Evidence that the symptoms are better accounted for by a psychotic disorder that is not substance induced might include the following: the symptoms precede the onset of the use (or medication use); the symptoms persist for a substantial period of time (eg, about a month) after the cessation of acute withdrawal or severe intoxication, or are substantially in excess of what would be expected given the duration of use; or there is other evidence that suggests the existence of an independent non-substance-induced psychotic disorder (eg, a history of recurrent non-substance- related episodes).

  • The disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of delirium.

7. PSYCHOTIC DISORDER NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED

Certain psychotic states cannot be classified into one of the foregoing categories of psychoses and are referred to as psychotic disorder NOS.

This category includes psychotic symptomatology (ie, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior) about which there is inadequate information to make a specific diagnosis or about which there is contradictory information, or disorders with psychotic symptoms that do not meet the criteria for any specific psychotic disorder.

Examples include:

  • Postpartum psychosis that does not meet criteria for mood disorder with psychotic features, brief psychotic disorder, psychotic disorder due to a general disorder

  • Psychotic symptoms that have lasted for less than 1 month but that have not yet remitted, so that the criteria for brief psychotic disorder are not met

  • Persistent auditory hallucinations in the absence of any other features

  • Persistent nonbizarre delusions with periods of overlapping mood episodes that have been present for a substantial portion of the delusional disturbance.

  • Situations in which the clinician has concluded that a psychotic disorder is present, but is unable to determine whether it is primary, due to a general medical condition, or substance induced

8. OTHER SPECIFIED OR CULTURE-BOUND PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS

Several psychotic disorders have specific presentations or are contained within certain demographic groups. These disorders are widely recognized but are not accorded formal diagnostic status in DSM-IV. They comprise the following:

A. Capgras Syndrome (delusion of doubles): This disorder represents a fixed belief that familiar persons have been replaced by identical imposters
who behave identically to the original person.

B. Lycanthropy: This is a delusion that the person is a werewolf or other animal.

C. Frégoli's Phenomenon: In this delusion, a persecutor (who usually is following the person) changes faces or makeup to avoid detection.

D. Cotard's Syndrome (délire de négation): A false perception of having lost everything, including money, status, strength, health, but also internal organs. This may be seen in schizophrenia or psychotic depression and responds to treatment of the underlying condition.

E. Autoscopic Psychosis: The main symptom is a visual hallucination of a transparent phantom of one's own body.

F. Koro: This disorder in males is characterized by a sudden belief that the penis is shrinking and may disappear into the abdomen. An associated feature
may be the belief that when this occurs, the person will die. A similar condition may be seen in women with fears of the loss of the genitals or breasts. Although this problem is seen more commonly in Asia, presentations in Western countries occur occasionally.

G. Amok: The amok syndrome consists of an abrupt onset of unprovoked and uncontrolled rage in which the affected person may run about savagely attacking and even killing people and animals in his or her way. It is seen most often in Malayan natives but has been reported in other cultures. In some circumstances, this problem is observed in individuals with preexisting psychotic disorders.

H. Piblokto (Arctic Hysteria): This disorder occurs among the Eskimos and is characterized by a sudden onset of screaming, crying and tearing off of
clothes. The affected person may then run or roll about in the snow. It usually resolves rapidly and the person will usually have no memory of the event.

I. Windigo (Witigo): Specific North American Indian tribes, including the Cree and Ojibwa, manifest this rare psychotic state. People affected may believe that they are possessed by a demon or monster that murders and eats human flesh. Trivial symptoms including hunger or nausea may induce intense agitation because of a fear of transformation into the demon.