An individual diagnosed with schizophreniform disorder needs to meet all of the following criteria:
- Active-Phase 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). At least one of these symptoms must be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech:
- Delusions.
- Hallucinations.
- Disorganized speech (e.g. frequent derailment or incoherence).
- Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior.
- Negative symptoms (i.e., diminished emotional expression or avolition).
- An episode of the disorder lasts for 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."
- Schizoaffective disorder and depressive or bipolar disorder with
psychotic features have been ruled out because either (1) no major
depressive or manic episodes have occurred concurrently with the
active-phase symptoms; or (2) if mood episodes have occurred during
active-phase symptoms, they have been present for a minority of the
total duration of the active and residual periods of the illness.
- The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a
substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical
condition.
- Specify if:
- With good prognostic features: This specifier requires the presence of at least two of the following features:
- onset of prominent psychotic symptoms within 4 weeks of the first noticeable change in usual behavior or functioning
- confusion or perplexity
- good premorbid social and occupational functioning
- absence of blunted or flat affect
- Without good prognostic features: This specifier is applied if two or more of the above features have not been present.
Source and Credits: Mental Health