According to the material, symptoms attributable to a substance or medical condition do not count unless they occur during antidepressant treatment. Which feature is this describing?

• A. Psychotic features
• B. Delirium
• C. Delirium prevention medications
• D. Best response rate in delirium

Answer: (A)

Psychotic features are delusions or hallucinations that occur in the context of a mood episode (such as depression or mania) and are not simply due to another cause. The statement you’re given points to a nuance: symptoms that can be attributed to a substance or another medical condition are not counted as psychotic features of the mood disorder unless they appear during antidepressant treatment. In other words, to classify psychotic symptoms as part of a mood disorder, they should be tied to the mood episode and not explainable by other causes; if they only show up with antidepressant treatment, that situation is treated and interpreted within the treatment context rather than as a straightforward mood-psychosis feature. This distinguishes true mood-disorder psychosis from other causes of psychosis, like substance-induced psychosis or delirium, which have different etiologies and diagnostic rules.