Childhood Schizophrenia: How To Recognize This Disorder?

The schizophrenia is a type of psychotic disorder chronic that is characterized by the presence of both negative symptoms (decreased motivation, anhedonia, etc.) and positive symptoms (delusions, hallucinations, etc.). The symptoms of schizophrenia negatively interfere with people’s daily lives, which is why most of them need help in their daily lives.

Schizophrenia in childhood is a rare mental disorder and therefore affects a small percentage of children and adolescents In fact, schizophrenia usually appears between late adolescence and mid-thirties, so it is very rare for its onset to occur before the adolescent stage. However, although it is unusual, there are people who develop this psychotic disorder in childhood, which is associated with a worse prognosis, given that the early appearance of this disorder is associated with lower academic achievements, cognitive dysfunctions. and more intense negative symptoms.

What is childhood schizophrenia?

The childhood schizophrenia It is a mental disorder that affects both children and adolescents under 18 years of age. This disorder, as in adulthood, is characterized by the presence of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and behavior, as well as negative symptoms. However, the presentation of these symptoms may vary slightly depending on the stage of development, differing mainly in the content of the symptoms and the areas of involvement. Besides, the schizophrenia that occurs at an early age is usually associated with more severe symptoms, greater cognitive impairment, and the presence of a strong family history.

Symptoms of childhood schizophrenia:

As we have already mentioned, the symptoms of childhood schizophrenia They are similar to the symptoms presented by an adult with schizophrenia. In most cases, schizophrenia has a gradual onset so it can sometimes be confused at first with attention or anxiety problems. It can even go unnoticed given that at this stage it is common to have a great imagination; there are even children who have imaginary friends at this stage and they do not have to indicate the presence of a psychotic disorder. Some symptoms that may indicate that a child has schizophrenia are the following:

1. Hallucinations: The delusions and hallucinations They are positive symptoms of schizophrenia that occur regardless of the age of onset of schizophrenia. Regarding hallucinations, it has been found that visual hallucinations occur more frequently in children and tend to be less elaborate (due to cognitive development).
2. Delusions: In relation to delusions, their content will also depend on the age of the child. In this sense, they can be related to the belief that someone or something (such as a monster or an alien) is chasing you, believing that you have superpowers, that television or other audiovisual media are sending you secret messages, believing that you can communicate with imaginary beings, etc. In some cases, for example, difficulties may arise in distinguishing between reality and dreams or television.
3. Attention and memory problems: The children with schizophrenia They often have difficulty concentrating and remembering important things, a fact that has a negative impact in the school environment.
4. Disorganized thinking: In the childhood schizophrenia It is also common to have difficulties organizing one’s thoughts and, therefore, communicating ideas to others. This can be reflected in confusing speech that is difficult to understand, strange statements with many details, etc.
5. Strange/disorganized behavior: Children with schizophrenia may have a strange behavior or disorganized that can be reflected in the presence of repetitive movements, marked regressions (an older child who acts as if he were a younger child), etc.
6. Emotional changes: It is common for them to occur emotional changes unusual events, such as rapid and extreme mood swings for no apparent reason.
7. Social withdrawal: It is common that the children with schizophrenia They have problems relating to others. The symptoms mentioned above cause them to have difficulties communicating with others, in fact, they sometimes misinterpret the intentions of others and, therefore, isolate themselves.

Causes of childhood schizophrenia:

Although it is known that the schizophrenia It has a strong genetic component, the exact causes of its appearance are currently unknown. Currently, it is known that the combination of both genetic and environmental factors can contribute to the appearance of schizophrenia in childhood. However, the existence of these factors does not necessarily indicate that a child will suffer from schizophrenia, but rather they increase the risk of suffering from it. Some risk factors that have been found to increase a child’s risk of developing schizophrenia are:

• Family history: Having a parent, sibling, or close relative with this disorder increases the risk of developing schizophrenia.
• Complications during pregnancy or childbirth: Children who are born with a low birth weight or who experience complications during childbirth may have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia.
• Neurological problems: Those children who experience neurological problems such as seizures or infectious diseases that affect the brain are at greater risk of developing it.
• Trauma or strong stress: Abuse or neglect are examples of environmental factors that can increase the risk of schizophrenia. It has been proven that suffering from trauma or severe stress in childhood are risk factors for the development of different mental disorders, such as, for example, schizophrenia.

How is childhood schizophrenia diagnosed?

As we have mentioned previously, the childhood schizophrenia It can be especially difficult to detect because the symptoms can be confused with typical childhood behaviors, such as imagination and creativity. Therefore, there are children who, due to their imagination, can verbalize that they see things that are not there, that they hear voices, etc. since they often invent stories and have fantastic beliefs, but they do not necessarily indicate the presence of a mental disorder but are within normal development itself. Furthermore, as it is a stage of both cognitive and emotional development, there are some limitations that do not occur in the adult stage, such as, for example, the difficulty of describing one’s own symptoms.

These aspects make the schizophrenia in childhood be difficult to diagnose. In fact, schizophrenia that appears before the age of 5 has characteristics in common with autism spectrum disorder, so to make a reliable diagnosis, we must wait to see how it evolves.

Remember that on many occasions it is easy to confuse some schizophrenia symptoms with normal aspects of child development. However, it is important that if you suspect that a child has schizophrenia, you seek professional help in order to carry out a thorough evaluation and offer appropriate treatment and support.