Do schizophrenic spectrum disorders present differently with regard to age and/or gender?
*Schizophrenia spectrum disorders
Yes and no, but mostly yes. There are differences within each schizophrenia spectrum disorder.
Schizophrenia has a 1:1 gender ratio but some symptoms are more common to be seen in men, whereas other symptoms are more common in women. The average age on onset for schizophrenia is late teens to mid 30′s. Here’s where there is a gender difference- the average age of onset for men is early to mid 20′s while the average age of onset for women is late 20′s. Onset can be fast or slow, and the disorder is often chronic.
Schizophreniform also has a 1:1 gender ratio but again, the age of onset is different. Men- 18-24, women- 18-35. Here the onset is often rapid. About 1/3 recover after 6 months while 2/3 experience symptoms longer and are diagnosed with either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
Brief Psychotic disorder has a 2:1 (female:male) ratio and is uncommon, Average age of onset here is mid 30′s for both male and female. Since this disorder is not very common and was recently added to the DSM, there is not a whole lot of information on it. The course of the disorder is short but rates of relapse are high.
Schizoaffective disorder is overall more common in women but there are two main specifiers for this- bipolar type and depressive type. Bipolar type has a balanced sex ratio but depressive type is more common in women. (Depression is also more common in women than men) The average age of onset is early adulthood but can occur anytime from adolescence to late life. People with this disorder often have poor insight and often do not know they suffer from it.
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