What condition is characterized by major depressive disorder or mania with symptoms from Criterion A of schizophrenia?

The condition characterized by major depressive disorder or mania along with symptoms from Criterion A of schizophrenia is schizoaffective disorder. This mental health disorder combines features of schizophrenia—such as hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized thinking—with mood disorder symptoms, including those of depression or elevated mood (mania).

In schizoaffective disorder, the mood symptoms are present for a significant portion of the illness and occur concurrently with the psychotic symptoms, distinguishing it from schizophrenia, where mood disturbances might not be pronounced or may occur only as a response to the psychosis. This integration of both mood disorder and schizophrenia features enables clinicians to differentiate schizoaffective disorder from purely mood-driven conditions or schizophrenia alone.

While major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder both involve significant mood symptoms, they do not include the characteristic persistent psychotic symptoms found in schizoaffective disorder. Thus, the presence of Criterion A schizophrenia symptoms in conjunction with significant mood episodes specifically points to schizoaffective disorder as the correct condition.