What is the psychotic disorder characterized by the inability to distinguish reality from fantasy?

The psychotic disorder characterized by the inability to distinguish reality from fantasy is schizophrenia. This condition typically involves a range of symptoms including delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and impaired functioning. Individuals with schizophrenia may have experiences that are intensely real to them, despite being disconnected from reality, leading to significant challenges in managing everyday life.

While depression can involve severe mood disturbances and may include psychotic features in some cases, it does not primarily disrupt the perception of reality. Bipolar disorder, similarly, can involve psychotic symptoms during manic or depressive episodes, but it is fundamentally a mood disorder marked by extreme mood swings. Conduct disorder is a behavioral disorder typically diagnosed in children and adolescents, characterized by a pattern of violating societal norms, and does not involve issues with reality perception like schizophrenia does. Therefore, schizophrenia stands out as the disorder most closely associated with the inability to differentiate reality from fantasy.