Ruling out a Schizophrenia Prodrome

hey, I hope this isn't a repeat-post. I've been researching a little bit for symptoms that MIGHT rule out a schizophrenia prodrome. I thought I'd post this up; might be helpful to people on the board (I'm seeing a lot of "am I having a prodrome?" posts.)

THINGS THAT MIGHT RULE OUT A SCHIZOPHRENIA PRODROME:

Substance Abuse
-Substance abuse does not ALWAYS rule out a prodrome, because a lot of people end up "self-medicating" during the prodrome. (i think.. i can't be bothered to find a citation, but i mean it makes sense, right? i bet SOMEONE in a prodrome felt #######5 enough and used drugs to deal.)
-Marijuana use can mimic symptoms of a prodrome (paranoia, amotivation etc) but it's possible those symptoms emerged BEFORE weed... or even after. correlation does not imply causation etc etc etc
(a lot of people think marijuana CAUSES psychosis but that's another story for another time.)

Medical Condition
medical conditions that can mimic a prodrome:
cushing's, lupus, seizure disorders.

Other psychiatric problems
-a major depressive, manic or mixed phased episode -- points to schizoaffective / mood disorders.
Emotional numbness points towards a prodrome, while sadness/irritibility points towards a MDE.
-symptoms present from an early age-- point to a personality disorder (schizotypal, schizoid or maybe borderline)
-a recent traumatic event-- points to post-traumatic stress disorder.
-disorganized thought, concentration difficulty, speech problems present at a young age-- points to ADHD

most of this is from http://books.google.com/books?id=bk4IPC ... &q&f=false

It seems like a prodrome's symptoms can be pretty ambiguous.. but... If you can think of any symptoms that may RULE OUT a prodrome, or any that are USUALLY present, or that are EXCLUSIVE to a prodrome, post away!

peacebone wrote:It seems like a prodrome's symptoms can be pretty ambiguous.. but... If you can think of any symptoms that may RULE OUT a prodrome, or any that are USUALLY present, or that are EXCLUSIVE to a prodrome, post away!

The prodrome for schizophrenia usually lasts between 12 to 24 months; so you can say that anything that is similar to a prodrome state but has been going on for more than 36 months is unlikely to deteriorate into schizophrenia.