Schizophrenia can not only affect older persons, but it can occur in children as well though very rarely. Schizophrenia in children generally occurs at ages 7 to 13 years of age.
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that can affect the soul of its lifelong sufferer. People with schizophrenia often experience psychotic experiences, such as hearing intangible voices, hallucinations, delusions, and difficult to distinguish which real world and imaginary worlds are.
Know the symptoms so that you provides treatments that can help the child. If it is handled early on, it is not possible for the child to do other children’s activities in general.
Markethealthbeauty.com summarizes the information that Mama needs to know about schizophrenia in children.
Schizophrenia In Children Symptoms
Positive symptoms
- Hallucinations: hear, see, feel something unreal. Usually a child feels a whisper to do something or see something unreal.
- Delusional: A belief in something that is not real and settled. For example, the child believes that he or she can fly and live on the moon or feel some who want to kidnap or evil.
Negative symptoms
- Less motivation: A child or teenager becomes discouraged from doing things, weakness, and loss of energy.
- Declining social interactions: a child or teenager becomes self-pulling and lazy to talk or chat with family or friends.
- Flat expression: Despite being happy or sad, the facial expressions are flat or not according to the feeling of his heart (mood).
Chaotic Behavior and Mind
Some of the symptoms are chaotic talk, disconnect, or not even talking at all (mutism). It can also be catatonic or rigid child’s posture in the old position.
Cognitive disorders
Children with schizophrenia also usually naturally impair thinking abilities. As a result, problems with school lessons may arise.
If there are at least 1 positive symptom or 2 of the above symptoms for a period of 1 month, you should be wary of schizophrenia in the child. Immediately consult a professional, such as a physician or psychologist.
Risk factors
Schizophrenia that occurs in children are the same as older persons. Research to find out the cause was still continuing to be examined. It is unlikely that a single cause, inevitably relates to environmental and genetic factors. Here are some facts.
Heredity
Genetics affects the development of schizophrenia in children. If you have a parent or relative who has schizophrenia, then it is likely that the same mental disorder is 10 percent. However, it does not mean, if the elderly are schizophrenia, the child is inevitably exposed as well. Indeed, genetics can be a contributing factor for schizophrenia, but not necessarily inherited.
Brain structure
If it has an abnormal brain structure, the child tends to undergo schizophrenia. It can also be one of the causes.
Environment
Sometimes, environmental factors play an important role in causing chronic psychiatric disease. According to some studies, pregnant women with high levels of stress can cause schizophrenia in their offspring.
Environmental situation that can trigger schizophrenia is a viral infection in the uterus, loss of parents in childhood, physical violence of children, children suffer from viral infections in infants, low oxygen levels during childbirth.
When should a child be taken to a doctor when experiencing schizophrenia symptoms?
Many parents are misguided and consider schizophrenia in children as a symptom of bipolar disorder, depression, and autism. This cannot be completely blamed as the symptoms of schizophrenia are indeed similar to some of these mental ailments.
Moreover, children are still not able to tell their parents about the symptoms of the disease that he experienced during this time. So, you can’t ask, “Have you ever seen things that other people don’t see, son?” to diagnose the symptoms of schizophrenia in the child.
It’s so easy. Always keep an eye on any changes in attitudes and behaviors in children. This is important because schizophrenia in the child develops gradually and the symptoms can be very clear.
If your child experiences two or more of the following symptoms:
- Delusions
- Hallucinations
- Irregular and no-expression talk
- Behavioral changes
- Be apathy
- Limitations of speech
- Difficult to make decisions
It could be that your child has schizophrenia. Immediately take your child to the nearest doctor or child psychologist to confirm the diagnosis. Your child may be encouraged to undergo therapy, take antipsychotic drugs, or exercise skills to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia.
Read also:
How To Cure Schizophrenia
