Q. A 30 year old male gives history of hearing voices commenting on his thoughts and actions for last three months. He also says that the newspaper indirectly refers to him. His symptoms started after he lost his job four months back. He has been working as a consultant in a private hardware firm. His behavior is strange sometimes. He shows peculiar thinking. There is no history of any substance abuse. His urine toxicology screen is negative. The most likely diagnosis for this patient is- 

a. Schizophrenia

b. Schizophreniform disorder

c. Schizoaffective disorder

d. Brief psychotic disorder

e. Delusional disorder 

The Answer is  (b) The diagnosis of a patient with psychotic features depends on the duration of the illness –

Brief Psychotic disorder- >one day to < one month

Schizophreniform disorder- >one month to< six month

Schizophrenia- > than six month

Schizoaffective disordesrs have prominent feature of mood disorder with psychotic symptoms.

Delusional disorder is characterized by fixed, persistent, nonbizarre delusions e.g. an employee thinks his colleague are jealous of him and they always tell lies about him to his wife to break their marriage.