Schizoaffective Disorder ICD-11 — MRCPsych Paper B MCQ
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Correct answer: B — Prominent psychotic symptoms and prominent manic, mixed or depressive symptoms occur in the same episode, simultaneously or within a few days
Option B is correct. ICD-11 conceptualises schizoaffective disorder episodically: prominent psychotic symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia and prominent symptoms of a manic, mixed or depressive episode must occur within the same episode, either simultaneously or within a few days of one another. Option A resembles the DSM longitudinal requirement for a period of psychosis without a major mood episode and is not the defining ICD-11 temporal rule. Separate psychotic and mood episodes, as in A or D, do not establish schizoaffective disorder, and family history is not diagnostic. Symptoms attributable to intoxication or withdrawal, as in E, instead suggest a substance-induced disorder.
Reference: BMJ Best Practice. Schizoaffective disorder, Definition section; rolling update, accessed 19 August 2026. https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-us/1199