Childhood Schizophrenia

524 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Childhood schizophrenia essay

Childhood Schizophrenia happens. Although this chronic brain disorder is more prevalent in adults, occurrences of hallucinations have been reported in children as young as 5 years of age. Still, parents need not panic, as pediatric schizophrenia only develops in about 1 in 40,000 children.

As a parent if you suspect something is mighty wrong, it usually is. Most especially if schizophrenia 'runs in the family', you should get familiar with the symptoms of early onset Schizophrenia.

Childhood Schizophrenia is a difficult diagnosis. Its symptoms are often mistaken for autism, Asperger syndrome or bipolar disorder. Lab tests and psychiatric evaluations are necessary to distinguish this brain malfunction from other mental challenges.

What are Symptoms of Early Onset Schizophrenia?

Children manifest similar symptoms of adult Schizophrenia including social withdrawal, hallucinations and delusions. This mental illness develops gradually, beginning in the infant and toddler stages. Be alert for any of these symptoms during infancy: floppy baby syndrome or poor muscle tone, fast movin...

Show More
Related

  • Case Study of Gerald: Living with Schizophrenia

    2528 Words  | 6 Pages

    According to the DSM-IV, schizophrenia is classified under the section of “Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders”. Schizophrenia is one of the most serious major chronic brain disorders in the field of mental health; it is a neurological disorder that affects the cognitive functions of the human brain. People living with this incapacitating illness can experience multiple symptoms that will cause extreme strain in their own and their families and friends life. The individual can lose reality, unable to work, have delusions and hallucinations, may have disorganized speech and thought processes, will withdraw from people and activities, they may become suspicious and paranoid, may behave inappropriately in every day social situations. They may neglect personal hygiene and dress improperly, use excessive make-up; every day life is becoming chaotic for everyone involved.

    Read More

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    The most typical symptoms of schizophrenia are things such as, hearing things that others cannot, such as voice of people whispering, having a feeling that someone is going out of their way to make sure they harm you, having visions of things that people around you cannot see, receiving special messages from the television, radio, and other appliances, felling that you posses special powers that ca...

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe's Berenice: Symptoms Of Schizophrenia

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schizophrenia has multiple symptoms; according to the World of Health Organization, these symptoms include “delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior [as well as depressive behavior].” Monomania

    Read More

  • Tardive Dyskinesia and Schizophrenia

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    For many years schizophrenia was thought to be caused by bad parenting, the so-called "refrigerator mother" was to blame. Today there exists much more information on the disorder and the evidence points to the commonly accepted notion of a chemical imbalance in the brain. Unfortunately, many people still confuse schizophrenia with multiple personality disorder when, in fact, the two are separate. Schizophrenia however, deals more with people who simply don't have a firm grip on reality.

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schizophrenia is a serious, chronic mental disorder characterized by loss of contact with reality and disturbances of thought, mood, and perception. Schizophrenia is the most common and the most potentially sever and disabling of the psychosis, a term encompassing several severe mental disorders that result in the loss of contact with reality along with major personality derangements. Schizophrenia patients experience delusions, hallucinations and often lose thought process. Schizophrenia affects an estimated one percent of the population in every country of the world. Victims share a range of symptoms that can be devastating to themselves as well as to families and friends. They may have trouble dealing with the most minor everyday stresses and insignificant changes in their surroundings. They may avoid social contact, ignore personal hygiene and behave oddly (Kass, 194). Many people outside the mental health profession believe that schizophrenia refers to a “split personality”. The word “schizophrenia” comes from the Greek schizo, meaning split and phrenia refers to the diaphragm once thought to be the location of a person’s mind and soul. When the word “schizophrenia” was established by European psychiatrists, they meant to describe a shattering, or breakdown, of basic psychological functions. Eugene Bleuler is one of the most influential psychiatrists of his time. He is best known today for his introduction of the term “schizophrenia” to describe the disorder previously known as dementia praecox and for his studies of schizophrenics. The illness can best be described as a collection of particular symptoms that usually fall into four basic categories: formal thought disorder, perception disorder, feeling/emotional disturbance, and behavior disorders (Young, 23). People with schizophrenia describe strange of unrealistic thoughts. Their speech is sometimes hard to follow because of disordered thinking. Phrases seem disconnected, and ideas move from topic to topic with no logical pattern in what is being said. In some cases, individuals with schizophrenia say that they have no idea at all or that their heads seem “empty”. Many schizophrenic patients think they possess extraordinary powers such as x-ray vision or super strength. They may believe that their thoughts are being controlled by others or that everyone knows what they are thinking. These beliefs ar...

    Read More

  • Comparing Autism And Schizophrenia

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frist, autism is almost always diagnosed in the early years of a child, while it is very uncommon for schizophrenia to be diagnosed in a child under the age of 13 (Mandell, 2017). Secondly, autism affects how a child read or picks up on social cues, and children with schizophrenia can read social cues, but can’t help their hallucinations and delusions. Finally, schizophrenia can be handled with the right medication and treatment plan, but autism in most cases will never get better. Children with autism do take medicine and most of the time see a therapist or counselor, but their symptoms still stay present (Mash, pp.

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia: Reality Distorted

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a definite biological basis for this disease, although it is not totally understood. For a long time schizophrenia was a mystery to doctors and scientists. Virtually any patient with a psychological disorder used to be placed under the expansive umbrella that defined the disease. Poor parenting was a misleading, early excuse for the troubles caused by what is now known to be substantially based in genetics. The most current idea of origin is that this disorder occurs during the crucial beginning months of life, those spent within the womb. Neither ...

    Read More

  • Childhood Mental Health

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mental health is an important part of the overall health well-being for children. Childhood mental health disorder can affect children and their families causing a long-term impact on the parents and other family members as well as the child themselves. Mental disorders are described as chronic health conditions. These are disorders that can go on for a long period of time, that may continue throughout the lifespan. Without early diagnosis and treatment, children with mental disorders can have problems at home and in school. These problems can continue into adulthood for the child and cause other healthy development and delays.

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia

    447 Words  | 1 Pages

    As an overview, schizophrenia is a disease to the brain. It is one of the most disabling and emotionally devastating illnesses known to man. It has been misunderstood for a long time. It has a biological basis, so it is like other diseases. It is a very common disease; one percent to one and a half percent of the U.S. has been diagnosed within some point in their life. There is no cure for this disease, although there is treatable medicine. Schizophrenia is not a multiple personality disorder. People who take medicine for it are able to lead normal fulfilling lives.

    Read More

  • Sense of Self: Schizophrenia and I

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects about 1 in 100 people at different stages in their lives and is very difficult to diagnose. It has many symptoms that typically begin to appear around age 18-30 (2). Signs of Schizophrenia can be misread and sometimes overlooked due to the amount of other disorders that share many of the symptoms. Autism is one example. Symptoms can be classified into "negative" and "positive." Negative symptoms could be seen as those that are absent but should be present. Examples of negative symptoms include lack of motivation or apathy, blunted feelings, depression, and social withdrawal (1). Positive symptoms are those that should be present but are absent. Some examples of positive symptoms are hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder, and an altered sense of self (1). It is thought that hallucinations are the...

    Read More

  • Childhood Psychopathy

    2323 Words  | 5 Pages

    A child or an adolescent being diagnosed with psychopathy is a controversial concept and yet there are a number of studies that purport to assess psychopathic traits within these groups. This has stemmed from evidence that key symptoms of psychopathy (at least when looking into the histories of adult psychopathic patients) have been indicative of an early onset with symptoms beginning in childhood or early adolescence. (Johnstone & Cooke, 2004). Psychopathy, at least in adults, is a viable construct and is often indicative of criminality, violence, substance abuse and results in decidedly poorer responsivity to treatment and as such highlights the importance of recognizing these early symptoms and planning intervention and treatment strategies. (Johnstone & Cooke, 2004; Skeem, Monahan, & Mulvey, 2003; Hempill, Hare, & Wong, 1998; Salekin, Rogers & Sewell, 1996).

    Read More

  • The Effects of Schizophrenia on the Brain

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects one to two percent of people worldwide. The disorder can develop as early as the age of five, though it is very rare at such an early age. (3)) Most men become ill between the ages of 16 and 25 whereas most women become ill between the ages of 25 and 30. Even though there are differences in the age of development between the sexes, men and women are equally at risk for schizophrenia. (4) There is of yet no definitive answer as to what causes the disorder. It is believed to be a combination of factors including genetic make-up, pre-natal viruses, and early brain damage which cause neurotransmitter problems in the brain. (3)

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schizophrenia is a complex psychological disorder, which affects 1 -- 2 % of the world's population (www.nami.org/helpline/schizo) Schizophrenia can affect anyone at any age, but most cases develop between adolescence and age 30. The relative prevalence of schizophrenia is staggering compared with the likes of muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's. (See appendix one).

    Read More

  • What is Adolescent Schizophrenia

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    To answer the question stated earlier, adolescent schizophrenia is an interesting and puzzling disorder where the brain becomes severely immobilized. There are 4 main types of schizophrenia all based on age. Very early onset schizophrenia, VEOS, occurs before the child’s 13th birthday. Early onset schizophrenia, EOS, will be seen before the 18th birthday. Childhood onset schizophrenia, COS, which occurs at the pre-pubertal stage, in relation to the chronological age of the child, will be shown when the child is 12 years old or younger. Finally adolescent-onset schizophrenia is shown between the ages of 13 and 17. Some of the main reasons for this disorder are neurobiological and neurophysiological difficulties and genetic problems. The problematic part of the genes happen on chromosomes 6, 8,10,13,18 and 22. With neurobiological problems, some symptoms would be reduced cerebral volume, changes in serotonergic and noradrenergic systems. Neurophysiological aspects consist of a lowered IQ, reduced language perception, poor speech production and formal thought disorders. Many other problems can come with having schizophrenia. Some the main reoccurring problems that are associated with this disorder are hallucinations and delusions, and there is actually a vast difference between the two. Hallucinations can be auditory, gustatory or ...

    Read More

  • Living with Schizophrenia

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    At some point a human might have a relative, or heard of someone, or even experienced itself of suffering from Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects many humans throughout the world. People living with this mental disorder may depend on a family member or someone close to take care of him/her. Certain individuals have a good chance of inheriting schizophrenia if a family member appears to show a history of this mental disorder. Unlike others can develop this psychotic disorder while growing up. For instance, a young woman or man may begin to show some signs or symptoms within his/her teen years. Well unfortunately, I have a brother who inherited Schizophrenia and it is extremely difficult to cope with him at certain times.

    Read More

More about Childhood Schizophrenia

Open Document