ABSTRACT
Even though psychotic symptoms can be part of the clinical picture of different psychiatric disorders, including mood disorders, according to the restrictive definition of DSM-IV psychotic disorders are defined by a gross impairment of reality testing and a loss of ego boundaries. The prototypical pictures of this section are schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder. Other disorders included in this chapter are the schizoaffective disorder, the brief psychotic disorder, the delusional disorder, and the shared psychotic disorder. Finally, psychotic disorders due to a general medical condition and to substances (drugs of abuse, medication, or toxins) are also included. Schizophrenic and schizophreniform disorders will be briefly summarized in the following section.
