Last reviewed:
Jul 12th 2023
M.A., LPCC
Schizophrenia and depression are each distinct mental health conditions. In some cases, a person may experience both schizophrenia and depression.
Schizophrenia is classified as a psychotic disorder, meaning that it leads to disturbances in thoughts and perceptions. A person who lives with schizophrenia may experience hallucinations, which involves seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, or feeling things that are not actually present.
They may also experience delusions, which are strange beliefs that persist, even when the person is presented with evidence that the belief is not true. Schizophrenia is also linked to incoherent speech patterns, strange behavior, and negative symptoms, which include social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and blunted emotion [1].
Depression, also known as major depressive disorder or major depression, is a mood disorder in which a person experiences deep and chronic feelings of sadness, as well as a loss of interest in their usual activities. Individuals who experience depression may struggle with low energy levels and have a difficult time concentrating.
Other common symptoms of depression are sleep problems, which can include sleeping too much or too little, and changes in weight, which can include either weight loss or weight gain. People with depression may also experience feelings of worthlessness and thoughts of suicide [2].
In some cases, schizophrenia may co-occur with depression. This means that a person has a diagnosis of both schizophrenia and depression. It can also mean that a person experience some episodes of depression throughout their lifetime, while also being diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Some research suggests that depression is common in patients with schizophrenia and related disorders. In fact, there is evidence showing that up to 80% of people with psychotic disorders experience some form of depression [3].
In some cases, a person who shows psychotic symptoms along with depression may have schizoaffective disorder. This is a mental health disorder in which a person experiences the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, as well as symptoms of a mood disorder, which could include depression.
For a person to be diagnosed with the depressive type of schizoaffective disorder, they must show symptoms of depression for most of the time that they experience psychotic symptoms. Furthermore, they must have a period of at least two weeks during which they show psychotic symptoms without symptoms of depression [4].
It is also possible for symptoms that look like schizophrenia and depression to occur in patients who have depression with psychotic features. In this presentation of depression, a person most often experiences psychotic features in the form of delusions that center on the belief that something bad is about to happen [5].
Schizophrenia and depression are distinct psychiatric disorders, but there are some similarities between the two.
The primary difference between depression and schizophrenia is that depression is a mood disorder, whereas schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder. Schizophrenia is primarily characterized by the following symptoms [1]:
On the other hand, depression involves [2]:
While depression and schizophrenia are different disorders, sometimes they may appear similarly. For example, the two disorders may have the following features in common:
Depression and schizophrenia can occur together, but that does not mean that depression directly causes schizophrenia. There seems to be an overlap between depression and the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia, particularly those related to lack of motivation and interest in usual activities, have also been found to be linked to depression [3].
Some research shows that symptoms of depression may precede the psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia, suggesting that mood disturbances could be a risk factor for developing schizophrenia. However, the research is inconclusive. There could also be differences in brain structure and functioning that increase the risk of both depression and schizophrenia [6].
As with depression causing schizophrenia, it is difficult to claim that schizophrenia directly causes depression. However, there is a strong link between schizophrenia and depression.
For example, studies show that patients with depression are at high risk of developing psychotic symptoms. Furthermore in response to the psychological trauma of the episode, people may experience depression following a psychotic episode of schizophrenia [6]. In summary, schizophrenia increases the risk of experiencing depression.
Since depression and schizophrenia can occur together, it is important to understand how these two mental disorders are treated. When patients experience comorbid depression and schizophrenia, the best course of treatment is to simultaneously treat depression and schizophrenia [3].
Treatment for schizophrenia and depression is likely to include the common components [1] [2] [4]:
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