What Is Childhood Schizophrenia?

Childhood schizophrenia is a chronic disorder that occurs before adulthood. It involved abnormal thoughts, false ideas, strange perceptions, and unusual social behavior. This condition occurs more frequently during the teenage years.

Problems during the brain's development produce chemical abnormalities which can cause schizophrenic symptoms. When this kind of brain alteration happens, a person can have unusual emotions associated with hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. Experts in the field do numerous schizophrenia tests to rule out other possible causes. Antipsychotic drugs are the most effective treatment to control symptoms, and counseling is also important in helping patients and their family members learn how to manage the disorder.

Fortunately, it is quite rare in children under the age of 7. This type of psychological disorder normally develops during late adolescence and early adulthood. One out of 40,000 children is being diagnosed with the disorder. The sad news is, the illness comes on very gradually in children and is often initially confused with other conditions. Autism or a disorder of neural development, OCD, and even ADHD were once believed as childhood schizophrenia but they are totally different disorders.

There is a big difference between the behaviors of young people with schizophrenia from that of adults who are suffering from this illness. As the symptoms develop gradually, it is rare for them to progress before the age of 12. At the start, children may talk about their strange fears and false ideas. They may have lack of ability to distinguish reality from fantasy. Moreover, the early warning signs may include extreme mood swings, behaving younger than one's age, paranoid thoughts, confused thinking, severe anxiety, and problems in maintaining good relationships with their friends.

Diagnosis of schizophrenia usually takes months of careful observation. When evaluating a child, it is very important to consider his or her behaviors. Some children may have unusual actions such as talking about imaginary friends or hearing voices. These are common in children; perhaps they have a greater desire for companionship due to their lack of playmates or siblings. But if a child who is already seven years of age or older with these same behaviors, it is advisable to have him or her evaluated.

During the medication, children are particularly at risk to the side effects of antipsychotic drugs to control schizophrenic symptoms. They can get side effects such as tremors, slowed movements, unusual actions, obesity and abnormal levels of fat in the blood.

It is very helpful to provide the patients the effective social skills training, vocational rehabilitation, as well as psychological and educational support. These are very crucial to help everyone not only the patients but also their families in dealing with the disorder and its consequences. Schizophrenic patients must have a complete evaluation. Parents and guardians should ask their doctors to refer them to a child and adolescent psychiatrist so they can evaluate, diagnose, and treat their children thoroughly. It is necessary to have a proper medication, individual therapy, and specialized programs to help the children with schizophrenia.