Childhood Schizophrenia

Childhood Schizophrenia

Introduction

Childhood Schizophrenia, which is even referred as childhood-onset or early-onset schizophrenia is basically similar to schizophrenia in adults, but it usually takes place in the early phase of the human's life. There are few cases for those patient who are 10 years old, or less than that. Childhood schizophrenia can lead towards a severe impact on the ability of child's to function in a proper manner. This is the reason why it is said that Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disease. The patient faces numerous kinds of strange thoughts and an unusual behavior. Schizophrenia is not common in children and sometimes become difficult to distinguish in the early phase of the human development. Therefore, all the issues related to Child Schizophrenia will be discussed in detail.

Background of Child Schizophernia

Childhood schizophrenia is characterized mainly by the presence of hallucinations, delusions, paranoia and confused thinking. There may be one or more symptoms, which may also occur in other syndromes characterized as neurotic or personality disorders, so they do not have clear boundaries that defines an individual chizophrenic person. In addition to the core symptoms of schizophrenia, several other symptoms and problems are common. Depression is often present and is one of the first signs of the illness, usually appearing several years before the onset of psychotic symptoms. According to Bauman (2005), the lifetime risk of suicide in people with schizophrenia is approximately 5%. Substance abuse is another common problem, with lifetime rates of alcohol or drug use disorders is approximately 50% in people with schizophrenia, as compared to about 15% in the general population. There are many issues which are related with the disorders faced by patients. This is a typical feature of schizophrenia disease. The psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia tend to be episodic over time, with severe episodes that pose a threat to the person or others often requiring hospitalization. Work and school performances are markedly worsened by schizophrenia, and many individuals require disability benefits and family assistance (Baumann, 2005). Schizophrenia is also associated with common problems such as homelessness, legal problems and incarceration, comorbid medical illnesses, and premature death. Schizophrenia is considered one of the top 10 of all diseases throughout the world in contributing to global disability

Schizophrenia usually develops between the ages of 16 and 35, although a later age of onset is possible. Women mostly suffer from this disease in a later stage in contrast to men. They also do not face very serious problems during this disease. Several other psychiatric disorders are closely related to schizophrenia and are considered to be schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. This is a fact that nature of the disease is the same for anyone suffering from these disorders (Schug & Raine, 2009).

Causes of Childhood Schizophrenia

The cause of childhood schizophrenia is not yet discovered. However, there are many doctors and medical practitioners, who have a common view that several factors have a combination of genetic risk contributed with the development of the ...