Childhood-onset schizophrenia: What do we really know? You can listen to the Inside Schizophrenia Podcast to learn more about schizophrenia and ending the stigma around mental health. There should be no shame in addressing your mental health or that of a loved one. Once you or your loved one has spoken with a psychiatrist and been diagnosed with this mental health condition, there are a variety of treatment options available.įor more information, you can visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). It’s possible to live well if you have schizophrenia. There are different therapies, medications, and support groups that can alleviate some of the uncomfortable symptoms associated with schizophrenia. Earlier and later onsets are also possible, but they’re relatively rare.ĭoctors can’t cure schizophrenia, but they can help you significantly manage and control it. Schizophrenia is a long-lasting mental health condition that tends to become apparent in late adolescence or early adulthood. The quicker they can receive professional assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, the better their chances of successfully managing their mental health. Regardless of how difficult it can be for healthcare professionals to diagnose schizophrenia in children, if you believe that someone close to you might be experiencing early onset schizophrenia, it’s important to say something. However, because children sometimes have delayed development of speech for other reasons, it can be difficult for a psychiatrist to say whether this symptom is related to schizophrenia. It’s usually not until later in the teenage years that someone with early onset schizophrenia experiences thought disorder.Ĭhildren with COS may also show disordered speech. This means they may hear strange voices, ringing, or other noises that may not actually be occurring. If a child receives a diagnosis of schizophrenia, their hallucinations will most likely be auditory. Healthcare professionals consider someone to have early onset schizophrenia, or childhood onset schizophrenia (COS), when their symptoms begin before the age of 13 years.Įarly onset can be harder to diagnose because clinicians have to distinguish between a child’s benign imaginative play and delusions or hallucinations that are related to schizophrenia. If you are a family member or friend, consider reaching out to a healthcare professional on behalf of the person you care about. The oldest age of onset was 63 years and the youngest age was 3 years.Īcting quickly to connect yourself or your loved one with the right treatment during early psychosis can help dramatically. It typically involves hallucinations and delusions, which can seem very real to the person experiencing them.Įxperts say the average age at which people first experience psychosis is 24 years old. The first episode of psychosis refers to when you first show signs of being unable to distinguish what’s real from what isn’t. People with thought disorder may communicate using words and phrases that may not make complete logical sense. Examples would include diminished emotional responses or delayed speech development in children. Negative symptoms are symptoms where something is absent that would usually be present. Positive symptoms are symptoms that are present when they usually would not be, such as hallucinations. Schizophrenia is a psychotic syndrome that involves positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and thought disorder. Psychosis can be brought on by medical causes or trauma, or by a developmental cause, such as schizophrenia.Įveryone’s experience is different, but most people say that psychosis is frightening and confusing. A person experiencing psychosis has trouble distinguishing between what is real and what isn’t. Psychosis affects the way you think and perceive the world around you.
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