subject: Symptoms Of Schizophrenia In Children And Adolescents [print this page] In accordance to the psychosocial development studies done by Erik Erikson, humans below the age of 13 are classified as children and those between the ages of 13 and 19 are classified as adolescents. Childhood or adolescent Schizophrenia crops up in the early years of life; it is rare but is more troublesome to manage. A child or adolescent suffering from Schizophrenia cannot function normally like others. His ability to think, take decisions and understand things is severely hampered. A child suffering from Schizophrenia can be as young as 8 years.
Symptoms of Children with Schizophrenia
Children and adolescents with Schizophrenia suffer from hallucinations, delusions and distorted thinking, similar symptoms to an adult Schizophrenic patient, except few small variations. There can be a gradual shift in the behavior pattern of a child or adolescent with Schizophrenia. From being balanced and predictable, they can turn into unbalanced and unpredictable individuals. Children with Schizophrenia tend to stick with their parents all the time, they do not enjoy playing and chatting with other kids, they lose interest in most of the activities, face difficulty in concentrating on studies and their school performance degrades. It is common for school teachers to notice their aberrant behavior first.
Treatment
To treat children and adolescents with Schizophrenia, group therapy, family therapy and atypical antipsychotic drugs are commonly used. The usual practice is for parents to take the child to a pediatrician and ask him to refer the child to a child or adolescent psychiatrist who is efficient in diagnosis, assessment and treatment of Schizophrenia in children and adolescents. Parents must try their best to encourage the child to participate in different activities in school that help to treat the mental disorder.
Understanding Schizophrenia in Children and Adolescents
For aptly understanding of childhood and adolescent Schizophrenia, parents must consult psychiatrist who has experience in dealing with children and adolescents. There are few instances when one might get confused whether a child has Schizophrenia or not:
1. Having imaginary friends and talking to unreal things - It is common for children to have imaginary friends that they play or talk with when they are around three years old; this is a common characteristic of children at this age. However, if such a characteristic is found in a 12 years old child or in a 15 years old adolescent, then parents need to be concerned, they must talk to the child and understand what he is feeling and must consult a pediatrician or a psychologist.
2. Grievance of losing a friend or family - An adolescent can feel sad over losing a dear friend or a family member. He might try to avoid going out and talk to anyone. During such times, people around him are usually in dilemma if this is something to do with schizophrenia, especially when the family has history of schizophrenia. In such cases, it is advisable to talk to the adolescent and arrange for a psychiatrist counseling. These symptoms can either be temporary depression or due to an early onset of Schizophrenia.
It is definitely a challenging job to differentiate the Schizophrenic symptoms from the characteristics of a normal child yourself. If you suspect your child displays Schizophrenia symptoms, always seek help from a professional or a psychologist to help in the diagnosis.
