What condition combines symptoms of schizophrenia with a major depressive episode?

The condition that combines symptoms of schizophrenia with a major depressive episode is schizoaffective disorder. This disorder is characterized by the presence of both psychotic symptoms, typical of schizophrenia (such as hallucinations or delusions), and mood disorder symptoms, including major depressive episodes.

In schizoaffective disorder, these symptoms occur simultaneously, and the mood symptoms are significant enough to be prominent but are tied to the psychotic features. This dual representation distinguishes schizoaffective disorder from other conditions.

In contrast, disorders like schizophreniform disorder feature symptoms of schizophrenia but do not encompass the mood component associated with depression. Delusional disorder involves fixed false beliefs but lacks the broader range of psychotic symptoms seen in schizophrenia. Major depressive disorder focuses solely on mood symptoms without the psychotic characteristics of schizophrenia. Therefore, schizoaffective disorder effectively describes the combination of both schizophrenia and depression.