Schizoaffective Disorder resources or lack there of

I have noticed that there are so few books about Schizoaffective disorder. If one where to browse the shelves of your local book store or even do a Google search for books about mental illness and the vast majority are about either Bipolar, Depression or Schizophrenia. While those books can give some insight into Schizoaffective disorder since the illness is a mixture of schizophrenia and a mood disorder they don't really cover the unique challenges that Schizoaffective disorder has. I feel that every mental illness is different regardless of the shared symptoms and while books about mood disorders and schizophrenia can help us get a better understanding of our illness it really misses key items that are challenges for us.

I am not sure why there are not more books about Schizoaffective, even clinical books about the illness are few and far between. Is it because of the rarity of the illness or is because those of that suffer from it ave a difficult time conveying what it is like. Or maybe it just easier for some to discuss one aspect rather than get into the complex nature of Schizoaffective Disorder. I know that when I am sitting down writing a blog entry I often find it difficult to decide which aspect of my illness should write about.

This lack of representation also means that education is difficult. In my case books on Bipolar Disorder have helped me to better understand the nature of the Bipolar aspect of my illness, but books on Schizophrenia really leave few options. My presentation is mild, primarily my Schizophrenia symptoms are paranoia, thought broadcasting, disturbances in perception such as mild hallucinations that consist of smelling odors not there or seeing shadows. This makes it far more difficult for me to take away insight from books that deal with Schizophrenia.

This same lack of representation applies to blogging. There also seems to be very few blogs about Schizoaffective Disorder and even entries on general mental health bogs are few. As a whole this lack of representation makes it difficult to research treatment options, I also believe that this lack of information helps feed into the misconception that people who have Schizoaffective have a worse prognosis in comparison to those who suffer from mood disorders or schizophrenia alone. In reality our prognosis is about on par for a person with Bipolar Disorder, which is to say that many of us can lead fulfilling lives and have better response to treatment. That is not to say that Schizophrenia has a bad prognosis its just that ours is a little better then theirs.

I know there are others who suffer from Schizoaffective disorder who feel the same frustration that I do about the lack of good information. That is why I challenge you to create your own blog or to comment on mine so that we can get dialog going about this illness that is one part Schizophrenia and one part mood disorder. If you already have a blog or have stumbled upon a blog that deals with Schizoaffective disorder please comment below with a link.