Other Psychotic Disorders
Even a thousand psychiatrists contributing to the DSM — IV cannot fit some instances of psychosis into neat categories. The solution is to lump them into a category of their own called “Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.”
Postpartum Psychosis
It is common knowledge that mild depression after giving birth affects some new mothers. As many as 30 percent of these patients suffer enough to be considered clinically ill with postpartum depression. Unfortunately, one out of every 1,000 new mothers is also at risk of developing postpartum psychosis.
Alert
Postpartum psychosis can be successfully treated with antipsy-chotic medications just as postpartum depression can be successfully treated with antidepressant medications. It is possible, however, that psychosis could recur after giving birth again. A woman at risk for postpartum psychosis should discuss with her doctor whether there is a risk if she gives birth again.
If a woman develops psychotic symptoms after giving birth, she will first be examined to determine whether she is suffering from any of the defined psychotic disorders. If none of those fit, her diagnosis will be postpartum psychosis. It usually strikes within four weeks of delivery and has all the features of schizophrenic psychosis, but it is brief in duration and is therefore technically called, according to DSM — IV, brief psychotic disorder with postpartum onset.
Other Psychosis of Unknown Causes
Sometimes psychoses occur for reasons that seem more mysterious than schizophrenia or other major mental illnesses. It is possible, for example, for a person to begin hearing voices or experience auditory hallucinations but have no other features of disease or mental disorder. These may include so-called musical hallucinations, in which a person most often is aware that these are indeed hallucinations generated by her brain and not something real in the environment. They tend to occur in older individuals who have some hearing problems and are becoming somewhat deaf.
