Signs and symptoms of childhood schizophrenia

In a child, at first the disease can give perfect harmless symptoms, for example, creative abilities or mathematical talent, which in comparison with other children do not develop according to age.

However, over time, such a genius can stop abruptly in development, because you should carefully watch your child. After all, the first signs of schizophrenia can be diagnosed before seven years!

The symptoms of pediatric schizophrenia do not differ from the symptoms of an adult, but have little severity.

Symptoms are divided into negative and productive signs:

• negative – when a person loses certain mental qualities as the disease progresses (loss of interest in the world around, dimming of emotions, etc.);
• productive – on the contrary, they appear or strengthen during an illness (hallucinations, delusional fantasies, obsessions, etc.).

The manifestation of the negative symptoms of adolescent or child schizophrenia is expressed in the fading of the emotional background, immersion in oneself, in one’s fictional world. The schizophrenic child eventually becomes like a mentally retarded child, although he has not been like this since birth. Decreased intelligence often leads to the fact that schizophrenia is often mistaken for oligophrenia.

Productive symptoms are most often expressed in adolescents in the form of rejection of their appearance, obsessive desires to correct their “monstrosity”, primitive philosophical reasoning, etc.

Possible manifestations / signs of childhood schizophrenia:

• the inability to conduct ordinary dialogue, the loss of the thread of conversation, suddenly switching conversations to a completely different topic;
• violent, spontaneous changes in the emotional state for no particular reason;
• ignoring personal hygiene, indifference to how it looks;
• paranoid thoughts that the whole world is conspiring against him;
• hallucinations, visual or auditory, when the child sees or hears, then what is not;
• complaints of non-existent danger, the difference of such fears from ordinary children’s “horror stories”;
• lack of a sense of reality, for example, thinks that everything that is shown in science fiction films is in fact;
• detachment, isolation from the usual social circle, the world becomes not interesting to the child.

If you have marked at least five points out of these eight, this is already a significant reason to show the child to a child psychiatrist. In order for the visit to the specialist to take place with maximum effect, it is necessary to take notes before the visit everything that seems unusual in the child’s behavior.

His emotional state, mood, and what preceded this or that childish act. This will help the doctor to see the disease clinic more extensively.

The diagnosis of schizophrenia – advice from a child psychiatrist for treating a disease

Early diagnosis is important for the effective treatment of schizophrenia: the earlier the disease is detected, the greater the chances for the child to become more adapted to society. In addition, if the form of schizophrenia has not yet acquired a severe degree, the child will most often undergo outpatient treatment while being in a familiar home environment.

Parents of a child diagnosed with schizophrenia should always remember that the treatment of this disease should be carried out exclusively by medical specialists. Any independent intervention in the course and treatment of schizophrenia can lead to irreparable results. Therefore, one should not prefer a visit to a folk healer to a visit to a specialized medical institution.

In modern psychiatry, drugs that quite gently correct the patient’s condition are used to treat schizophrenia. To date, used antipsychotics and antidepressants help to cope with the task, without negating the mental and physical development of the child. However, it should be noted that such drugs may have a side effect, manifested in an increase in body weight.

Parents of children with a diagnosis of schizophrenia should regularly check the level of insulin in the blood, monitor the work of the pancreas, to avoid the development of diabetes mellitus on the background of the medication.

Child psychiatrists recommend treatment of schizophrenia in a comprehensive way:

• regularly visit the attending physician. Only a specialist will be able to analyze the dynamics of the disease and prescribe corrective therapy in time, make, if necessary, a complete replacement of previously prescribed drugs;
• plan individual and group classes with a psychotherapist. Those sessions and others give a good effect; in the group a sick child learns to behave with other people, hidden problems are revealed in a personal conversation. Such classes teach the child to accept himself, to be aware of his peculiarity, to cope with the attacks on his own;
• use of folk remedies. It is only on the recommendation of a child psychiatrist should take infusions of medicinal herbs, decoctions, which are prophylactic agents;
• implement recommendations that relate to any area of ​​a child’s life during a break between treatments. Strict adherence to the daily regimen, diet, the maximum possible exclusion of external stimuli will help parents reduce the number of attacks, cope with outbreaks of aggression.

These recommendations of a child psychiatrist concern children with mild schizophrenia or in the early stages of the disease. Since more severe degrees of schizophrenia imply that the patients are under the constant supervision of specialists in special medical institutions.

Schizophrenia in children – the causes of

Schizophrenia is most often seen in adults, but, unfortunately, this disease is also diagnosed in children. This serious psychiatric disorder, disorder, destructive thinking of the child, his emotional state, completely distorts the children’s perception of the world and others.

Schizophrenia plunges the child into a world of hallucinations, distorted reality and delusional thoughts. The disease is incurable, however, timely diagnosis and correct treatment can significantly weaken its manifestation. Often signs of schizophrenia are taken for the symptoms of other diseases and precious time is missed.

Modern medicine can not determine the exact cause of schizophrenia, this area of ​​psychiatry can only suggest the factors of its development. Doctors psychiatrists relate to them, above all, genetic predisposition, mutated elements of DNA, disruption of brain cells, as well as incorrect proportions of such substances in the body as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine and others.

There are a number of reasons that may also indirectly influence the definition of a child’s diagnosis of schizophrenia:

• deficiency of nutrients, vitamins and microelements due to fasting during the pregnancy of the expectant mother;
• pregnancy with complications and viral diseases;
• late pregnancy;
• child addiction;
• stressful situations in a child’s life (violence, divorce of parents, humiliation, etc.).