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The question was submitted 10/26/2008

Subject: can depressed people turn schizo?

hi, i'm from singapore. i've started reading alot about mental sickness eversince i got diagnosed clinical depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder (take your pick, i got them from different shrinks).

during my stay in a psychiatric ward, i saw other patients with other diagnosis. i thought schizoprenia (sp) was the most jialat. but not as interesting as those with multiple personality disorder a.k.a. dissociative disorder. i think the latter one is much fun and challenging to treat (personally, of course. haha)

seriously, i'm curious. can depressives turn schizo over time? my shrink mentioned somthing about not seeking treatment, our brain circuit could go haywire. is that it? you totally lost it.. and start hearing voices and see things. oh dear, i don't want to stay in imh long term!! i hate their food and costume ):

Answer from DepNet

Depression and Schizophrenia are 2 distinct disorders with differences in the underlying etiology.

Patients with Depression do not generally develope Schizophrenia if left untreated, the depression of course may progress to more severe depression if left untreated.

Of course there remains the risk of a dual diagnosis, i.e having both Schizophrenia and Depression. The risk of a person with depression getting Schizophrenia however is the same as the general population with a lifetime risk of 1%.

Regards,

Depnet

The answer was published on DepNet 10/28/2008