If you receive a schizophrenia diagnosis, you may hope it’s a temporary condition. Unfortunately, schizophrenia is not a temporary condition. Instead, it’s a life-long struggle that presents an array of symptoms. Throughout this article, we’ll review schizophrenia’s impact on a person’s life and what you can do to mitigate symptoms.

What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia disorder is a condition categorized by changes in one’s own thoughts, behaviors, or feelings – exhibited by psychotic, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms that worsen over time. ¹ An estimated 2.6 million US adults struggle with schizophrenia. ²

Schizophrenia Symptoms

The three subsets of schizophrenia symptoms are as follows:

1.) Cognitive Symptoms

Cognitive schizophrenia symptoms most commonly your inability to concentrate, pay attention, and process or retain memories. Other common cognitive symptoms are: ³

• Difficulty retaining key pieces of information that may hinder learning new tasks
• Easily distracted from tasks or have trailing thoughts
• Issues in concentrating on tasks and situations that might be new or were once natural

2.) Psychotic Symptoms

Psychotic symptoms are the most commonly associated with schizophrenia. These are alterations of your brain patterns and affect how you interact with the world. Common psychotic symptoms are: ⁴

• Auditory or visual hallucinations
• Delusional thoughts and beliefs, including:
  • Falsely held belief that someone is “after you”
  • Phobia of the outside world
  • The media is sending signals or patterns that must be acted upon
• Disorganized or strange speech, speech patterns, or word choices

3.) Behavioral Symptoms

Behavioral symptoms might resemble depressive symptoms and are exhibited through actions. For example, you may struggle with a lack of motivation and now you withdraw from society. Behavioral symptoms of schizophrenia include: ⁵

• Apparent reduction in motivation
• Having what can be described as a “flat expression,” meaning that you’re unable or unwilling to show your emotions
• Loss of overall joy, pleasantness, and happiness, resulting in inaction and disassociation
• Reduction in speaking to others (i.e. friends, family, coworkers)

Is Schizophrenia a Temporary Condition?

Unfortunately, the reality is that schizophrenia isn’t temporary. It’s a cyclical chronic mental health disorder that requires proper treatment and evaluation.

However, there is something called brief psychotic disorder (or temporary psychosis) – a psychosis that mimics certain symptoms and effects of schizophrenia. While this condition is temporary, it isn’t specifically tied to schizophrenia.

What is Brief Psychotic Disorder?

Brief psychotic disorder is a mental health condition that occurs in those who experience psychosis or a break from their reality. This is usually brought on by stress or as a consequence of a traumatic event. ⁶

Brief psychotic disorder is temporary and certain symptoms will overlap with schizophrenia. However, unlike schizophrenia, brief psychotic disorder is like its namesake – brief in duration.

Brief Psychotic Disorder vs. Schizophrenia: What’s the Difference?

Schizophrenia and brief psychotic disorder both include similar psychotic, behavioral, and cognitive symptoms. Yet, the duration and intensity of those symptoms differ between the two disorders. Not to mention, the conditions have several other differences that are important to observe:

Causes

The causes of schizophrenia can usually be traced back to your genealogy and biological history. More specifically, if a close family member (i.e. a parent or sibling) has schizophrenia, you’re more likely to struggle with the condition. However, there is no specific “schizophrenia gene.” ⁷

However, there are other reasons for the cause of schizophrenia, including pregnancy complications, childhood trauma, and prolonged use of hard drugs. In fact, nearly 50% of patients exhibit either alcohol or illicit drug dependence, and more than 70% are dependent on nicotine. ⁸

The causes of brief psychotic disorder don’t have so much to do with your biology. Instead, it’s more circumstantial and brought on as a consequence of stress and trauma. ⁹

Brief psychotic disorder regularly afflicts younger people, mainly in their late teens to their late twenties. Some have linked brief psychotic disorder to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, PTSD is a cyclical chronic mental condition whereas brief psychotic disorder is more a temporary reaction to extreme stress, violence, or traumatic events. ¹⁰

Symptoms

The symptoms of brief psychotic disorder and schizophrenia are very similar, but there are a few key differences. Time is the largest variant between these two mental health circumstances and can usually confirm whether you’re struggling with one or the other.

With brief psychotic disorder, the symptoms may mirror some of the larger schizophrenia symptoms. However, the range, ferocity, and occurrence of these similar symptoms pale in comparison to schizophrenia.

Brief psychotic disorder generally only lasts a month. Sometimes, the effects only last a few weeks or even a few days. This is because it’s an immediate response to a stressful event or trauma.

Statistics

When we look at the stats for these two conditions, only schizophrenia has clear numbers and information. An estimated 2.6 million US adults struggle with schizophrenia and 20 million are affected worldwide.

There have been estimates as to how many people struggle with brief psychotic disorder and the results are insightful. On average, more men than women experience a brief psychotic response. The age range remains pretty consistent, with most struggling between the ages of 15 to 35. ¹¹

Diagnosis

Diagnosing schizophrenia and brief psychotic disorder both require a mental health professional. You’ll undergo an evaluation to identify symptoms and get more background information on your family’s medical history.

With schizophrenia specifically, it can be difficult to diagnose, especially in situations where the patient may have a history of other mental health conditions. Most notably, a substance abuse disorder. Many with the condition will abuse substances as a means to self-medicate. ¹²

To identify between a brief psychotic disorder and schizophrenia, professionals will look closely at the timeframe of symptoms. If you’ve recently started experiencing symptoms, a psychologist will try to pinpoint if there’s any specific event that led to these symptoms. If there is none, you’ll be closely monitored to track if symptoms continue to develop.

There aren’t really any direct lab or clinical tests that can be done to diagnose schizophrenia from brief psychotic disorder. However, a basic metabolic lab panel can be done to rule out any other mental disorders or medical conditions. Brain scans are also an option if there are concerns about the brain’s overall health. ¹³

Treatment

The major difference between these two disorders is how mental health professionals approach treatment. For brief psychotic disorder, the treatment is far less involved than it would be for schizophrenia.

Bot conditions will require talk therapy. However, the duration and intensity of that therapy will differ. Those with schizophrenia have to undergo long-term (or even life-long) therapy to regulate symptoms. ¹⁴

With a brief psychotic disorder, you’ll undergo a short window of talk therapy. This is to help you coax out of a false sense of reality or artificial sensations. Some medications like anti-psychotics as well as antidepressants can also be administered to help ease symptoms.

References

¹ Hany M, Rehman B, Rizvi A, Chapman J. Schizophrenia. 2024 Feb 23. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan–. PMID: 30969686.

² Qureshi ZP, Khandker R, Shepherd J, Samant S, Chekani F, Bailey HML. Assessment of Real-Life Outcomes in Schizophrenia Patients according to Compliance. Psychiatry J. 2020 Aug 31;2020:5848601. doi: 10.1155/2020/5848601. PMID: 32934955; PMCID: PMC7479455.

³ Keefe RS, Harvey PD. Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2012;(213):11-37. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-25758-2_2. PMID: 23027411.

⁴ Breier A, Berg PH. The psychosis of schizophrenia: prevalence, response to atypical antipsychotics, and prediction of outcome. Biol Psychiatry. 1999 Aug 1;46(3):361-4. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3223(99)00040-2. PMID: 10435201.

⁵ Brüne M, Schaub D, Juckel G, Langdon R. Social skills and behavioral problems in schizophrenia: the role of mental state attribution, neurocognition and clinical symptomatology. Psychiatry Res. 2011 Nov 30;190(1):9-17. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2010.03.015. Epub 2010 Apr 24. PMID: 20417974.

⁶ Stephen A, Lui F. Brief Psychotic Disorder. 2023 Jun 25. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan–. PMID: 30969734.

⁷ Escudero I, Johnstone M. Genetics of schizophrenia. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2014 Nov;16(11):502. doi: 10.1007/s11920-014-0502-8. PMID: 25200985; PMCID: PMC6192508.

⁸ Winklbaur B, Ebner N, Sachs G, Thau K, Fischer G. Substance abuse in patients with schizophrenia. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2006;8(1):37-43. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2006.8.1/bwinklbaur. PMID: 16640112; PMCID: PMC3181760.

⁹ Gaebel W, Zielasek J. Focus on psychosis. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2015 Mar;17(1):9-18. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.1/wgaebel. PMID: 25987859; PMCID: PMC4421906.

¹⁰ Lindley SE, Carlson E, Sheikh J. Psychotic symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder. CNS Spectr. 2000 Sep;5(9):52-7. doi: 10.1017/s1092852900021659. PMID: 17637580.

¹¹ Provenzani U, Salazar de Pablo G, Arribas M, Pillmann F, Fusar-Poli P. Clinical outcomes in brief psychotic episodes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2021 Nov 4;30:e71. doi: 10.1017/S2045796021000548. PMID: 35698876; PMCID: PMC8581951.

¹² Goswami S, Mattoo SK, Basu D, Singh G. Substance-abusing schizophrenics: do they self-medicate? Am J Addict. 2004 Mar-Apr;13(2):139-50. doi: 10.1080/10550490490435795. PMID: 15204665.

¹³ Fusar-Poli P, Salazar de Pablo G, Rajkumar RP, López-Díaz Á, Malhotra S, Heckers S, Lawrie SM, Pillmann F. Diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of brief psychotic episodes: a review and research agenda. Lancet Psychiatry. 2022 Jan;9(1):72-83. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00121-8. Epub 2021 Nov 29. PMID: 34856200.

¹⁴ Patel KR, Cherian J, Gohil K, Atkinson D. Schizophrenia: overview and treatment options. P T. 2014 Sep;39(9):638-45. PMID: 25210417; PMCID: PMC4159061.