What Are the Different Types of Schizophrenia?
Earlier, doctors who specialize in mental health classified schizophrenia into different subtypes:
- Catatonic
- Disorganized
- Paranoid
- Residual
- Undifferentiated
But that system didn’t work well, as you may experience symptoms of different "types" of schizophrenia at different times. Now, experts describe schizophrenia as a spectrum disorder that includes all the previous subtypes.
How Types of Schizophrenia Are Categorized
A spectrum disorder like schizophrenia is a group of related mental disorders that share some symptoms. They're like variations on a theme in music. They affect your sense of what's real. They change how you think, feel, and act.
It's a psychosis, which means that what seems real to you isn't. You could have:
Hallucinations: Seeing or hearing things that aren't there.
- Delusions: Mistaken but firmly held beliefs that are easy to prove wrong, like thinking you have superpowers, are a famous person, or people are out to get you.
- Disorganized speech: Using words and sentences that don't make sense to others.
- Strange behavior: Acting in an odd or repetitive way, such as walking in circles, writing all the time, or sitting perfectly still and quiet for hours on end.
- Withdrawn and lifeless: Showing no feelings or motivation and lacking interest in normal daily activities.
People with schizophrenia have at least two of these symptoms for at least six months. One of them must be hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized speech. For example, hearing a voice that keeps commenting on your thoughts and actions, or voices that talk to each other, is enough.
There could have been times when you didn't have any symptoms, but the first one would have started at least six months ago. And you must have had them for at least a month continuously.
You may have different symptoms at different times, and they may get worse or better — and it's still schizophrenia.
Doctors may classify your schizophrenia according to your main symptom to make a diagnosis clearer. But rather than saying you have "paranoid schizophrenia," they would say you have "schizophrenia with paranoia,” for example. Learn more about the symptoms of schizophrenia.
Related Disorders
What makes schizophrenia different from some similar disorders in the spectrum is how long you've had symptoms and whether you also have signs of a mood disorder.
Schizophreniform
You've had psychotic symptoms for at least a month but less than six months. Many people with this disorder go on to have schizophrenia. In other words, schizophreniform is often early schizophrenia. But for about one-third of people, the symptoms just go away.
Schizoaffective disorder
You’ll have a combination of psychotic symptoms along with depression (major depressive disorder) or bipolar disorder. You could feel very low or swing between periods of super high energy or irritability and extreme lows. To be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, psychotic symptoms must sometimes occur even when your mood is OK. This is a rare, serious, lifelong illness.
Read more about the types of psychotic disorders and their symptoms.
Takeaways
Schizophrenia is a spectrum disorder, meaning the disease is an umbrella term for a group of a variety of mental disorders. Previously, doctors divided the condition into types, including paranoid schizophrenia and catatonic schizophrenia. However, now these terms are considered outdated. If you have schizophrenia, you may experience a variety of symptoms, including different forms of psychosis such as hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized speech.
Types of Schizophrenia FAQs
How can you tell the difference between schizophrenia and spectrum disorder?
Schizophrenia is a spectrum disorder — a type of disease that's actually made up of a group of related mental disorders. You may experience different symptoms of different conditions at the same time. But to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, you must have experienced delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech, as well as at least one other psychosis symptom, for six months or more.
What is the difference between type 1 and type 2 schizophrenia?
Type 1 and type 2 schizophrenia are now considered to be outdated terms, but previously, people with schizophrenia were diagnosed depending on their symptoms. Those with type 1 schizophrenia typically had more positive symptoms, such as changes in behavior caused by hallucinations or delusions. People diagnosed with type 2 were often more withdrawn and showed little interest in day-to-day life. Now, people are diagnosed with schizophrenia if they experience two symptoms of schizophrenia for six months or more.
