Schizophrenia in Children

What is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is one of the most complex of all mental illnesses. It is a severe, chronic and disabling brain disorder that causes distorted thinking, strange feelings, and unusual behavior and use of language and words.

What causes schizophrenia?

There is no known single cause responsible for schizophrenia. It is believed that a chemical imbalance in the brain is a hereditary factor necessary for schizophrenia to develop. However, it is likely that many factors, genetic, behavioral and environmental-plays a role in the development of this disease.

Schizophrenia is considered multifactorially inherited. Multifactorial inheritance means that "many factors" are involved. The factors are usually both genetically and environmentally, in which a combination of genes from both parents, except that unknown environmental factors, produce the trait or disease. Often one gender (either males or females) are affected more than others in the multifactorial properties. There appears to be a different threshold for expression, which means that a queue are more likely to view the problem, over the second queue. Slightly more males develop schizophrenia in childhood, through adolescence, schizophrenia affects men and women equally.

Who is affected by schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is rare in children under 12 years old and difficult to identify in the early stages. A sudden psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia often occurs in middle to late adolescence. Statistics indicate that schizophrenia affects approximately 2.7 million people. A child born into a family with one or more family members who suffered from schizophrenia have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia than a child born into a family with no history of schizophrenia.

When a person has been diagnosed with schizophrenia in a family, the chance for a sibling who is also diagnosed with schizophrenia, 7 to 8 percent. If a parent has schizophrenia, the chance for a child to get the disease 10 percent. The risks increase with multiple affected family members.

 What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?

In children with schizophrenia, behavioral changes occur slowly, over time, or have a sudden. The child may gradually become more shy and retiring. They can begin to talk about bizarre ideas or fears and begin to cling more to parents. One of the most disturbing and puzzling characteristics of schizophrenia is the sudden their psychotic symptoms. "Psychotic" refers to ideas, perceptions or feelings that are grossly distorted from reality. The following are the most common symptoms of schizophrenia. However, each child may experience symptoms differently.

Early warning signs of schizophrenia in children may include:

• Distorted perception of reality (difficulty telling dreams from reality)

• Confused thinking (ie, confusing television with reality)

• Detailed and bizarre thoughts and ideas

• Suspicion and / or paranoia (fear that someone, or something, will hurt them)

• Hallucinations (seeing, hearing or feeling things that are not real such as hearing voices that tell them to do something)

• Delusions (ideas that seem real but are not based in reality)

• extreme moodiness

• Severe anxiety and / or fear

• Flat affect (lack of emotional expression when speaking)

• Difficulty in performing schoolwork

• Social withdrawal (severe problems in making and keeping friends)

• Disorganized or catatonic behavior (suddenly becoming agitated and confused, or sitting and staring, as if immobilized)

• Odd behavior (ie, an older child regresses significantly, and start acting like a younger child)

The symptoms of schizophrenia are often classified as positive (symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, and bizarre behavior), negative (symptoms including flat affect, withdrawal, and emotional reactions), disorganized speech (including speech that is incomprehensible), and disorganized or catatonic behavior (including marked mood swings, sudden aggressive, or confusion, followed by sudden immobility and staring). The symptoms of schizophrenia in children are similar to adults, however, children, more often (in 80 percent of diagnosed cases), experience auditory hallucinations and typically do not experience delusions or formal thought disorders until midadolescence or older. The symptoms of schizophrenia may resemble other problems or psychiatric disorders. Always consult your child's physician for a diagnosis.

How is schizophrenia diagnosed?

Schizophrenia in children and adolescents is usually diagnosed by a child and adolescent psychiatrist. Other mental health professionals usually participate in the completion of a comprehensive mental health evaluation to determine individual treatment needs.
Treatment of Schizophrenia

Specific treatment for schizophrenia will be determined by your child's physician based on:

• Your child's age, overall health, and medical history
• The extent of disease
• Type of schizophrenia
• Your child's tolerance for specific medications or therapies
• Expectations for the course of the disease
• Your opinion or preference

Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric illness. Treatment of schizophrenia is complex. A combination of therapies is often necessary to meet the individual needs of children and adolescents with schizophrenia. Treatment aims to reduce symptoms associated with the disease. Different types of treatment that can be helpful for children or adolescents with schizophrenia may include:

Medications (also called psychopharmacological management, to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia), including the following:

Antipsychotic drugs (previously known as "neuroleptics") are medicines that act against the symptoms of psychotic illness, but do not cure the disease. This specialized class of medications can reduce symptoms or reduce the severity of symptoms, and is used primarily to treat the pervasive, intrusive and disturbing thoughts of a person with schizophrenia. They are designed to help minimize the severity of delusions and hallucinations the child is experiencing.

• Mood-stabilizing agents such as lithium or valproic acid, especially in the initial stages of an illness episode
• Individual and family psychotherapy (including supportive, cognitive and behavioral therapy)
• Specialized training and / or structured activity programs (ie, social skills training, vocational training, speech and language therapy)
• Self FAWE and support groups

Preventing schizophrenia

Preventive measures to reduce the incidence of schizophrenia in children is not known at this time. However, identification and early intervention improves quality of life in children and adolescents with schizophrenia. Furthermore, treatment is most successful when symptoms of the first psychotic episode is treated properly and promptly. It is crucial for a child or teenager who is prescribed medications for the treatment of schizophrenia to remain adherent to the regimen. Dosages and types of medications may need to be adjusted periodically to maintain effectiveness. Always consult your child's physician for more information.