Ayurvedic Management of Schizoaffective Disorder, Maniac Type – A Case Report

Schizoaffective disorders are psychotic disorders in which the subjects exhibit symptoms of both Schizophrenia and Mood disorder. In the clinical practice it is often misdiagnosed due to the overlapping of the symptoms of these major psychiatric disorders. Life time prevalence of Schizoaffective disorder is 0.3% and the occurrence is more frequent in women than in men. It is a highly controversial topic in the psychiatric nosology and many substantial concerns were raised whether to deem it as a separate diagnosis or a subtype of these conditions. Still it is positioned as a separate entity owing to the common occurrence in the population. A 33-year-old lady presented with elevated mood, continuous irrelevant hyperverbal speech, increased self-esteem, increased anger, irritability and impulsivity. She also had occasional visual and auditory hallucinations and also delusions of grandiose type. She was exposed to continuous mental stress and the duration of the illness was recorded as 7 years. From the clinical interrogation it was evident that both the maniac and psychotic symptoms were prominent in the same episodes. The case was diagnosed as Schizoaffective disorder, Maniac type based on the diagnostic criteria mentioned in International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision. The case was diagnosed as Vatha Paittika Unmada as per the Ayurvedic clinical examination and was managed in the Inpatient department. A Sodhana based protocol was designed in a way intended to bring the vitiated doshas of Vatha, Pitta and Rajodosha into normalcy and to reduce the contributory factors of stress and anxiety. Significant improvements were noted in Young Mania Rating Scale and Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale recorded before and after the management protocol.