Adolescent Schizophrenia - An Overview

Introduction

Adolescent schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder of all chronic conditions. It is characterized by unusual behavior, strange feeling, disturbed thinking, and usage of language and words. This is a rare condition that affects both children and adults. It results in hallucinations, delusions, disturbed thinking, and behavior, which disrupts the affected child’s behavior and function. This condition requires life-long treatment.

What Is Meant by Adolescent Schizophrenia?

Adolescent schizophrenia is a long-term mental issue that affects a person’s feelings, thinking, and behavior. This makes the affected person oscillate between reality and disturbed perception. Childhood schizophrenia in children is the same as in adults. Still, it emerges at the earlier stage of life, which has a massive impact on the child’s behavior, thinking process, and development. Childhood schizophrenia makes diagnosis and treatment difficult. But in this condition, early diagnosis and treatment are essential to keep the kid best in school, work, or relationships with others.

At What Age Does Adolescent Schizophrenia Develop?

Usually, schizophrenia occurs in people during their late teens or early 30s. If this condition is diagnosed before 18 years, it is known as early-onset schizophrenia. In contrast, childhood schizophrenia develops at 13 years or before, a rare condition. This condition occurs early in males at 18 to 25 years, but in females, it occurs at 25 to 35.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Adolescent Schizophrenia?

Adolescent schizophrenia is difficult to diagnose initially, and symptoms can change in severity and type over time. Some common signs and symptoms are

• Delusion or confusion.

• Hallucination.

• Disorganized speech.

• Difficulty in performing the normal function.

Early Signs and Symptoms:

The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia in children are similar to adults, but it is difficult to diagnose this condition in younger age groups. Early signs and symptoms include

• Thinking:

  • Issues with thinking and reasoning a situation.

  • Confused ideas and speech.

  • The dilemma of dreams or television for reality.

• Behavior:

  • Isolation from family and friends.

  • Difficulty sleeping.

  • Lack of motivation.

  • Not able to perform daily activities.

  • Bizarre behavior.

  • Agitation.

  • Usage of recreational drugs or nicotine.

• Emotional:

  • Irritated or depressed.

  • Reduced emotions or irrelevant emotions for a particular situation.

  • Anxiety and fear.

  • Suspicion of others.

Later Signs and Symptoms:

• Delusion: Delusion is the most common symptom of schizophrenia. Delusions are wrong beliefs that are not based on reality.

• Hallucination: Hallucination causes seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist. But for people affected with schizophrenia, these hallucination effects feel to be normal experiences. The most common hallucination is hearing voices, but these can be in any form of sense.

• Disorganized Thinking: The people affected by this condition will not have effective communication, and the answers given to the question asked will be partially or entirely irrelevant. Disorganized thinking is caused due to disorganized speech. Affected people tend to jumble words and speak, which cannot be understood.

• Negative Symptoms: This hinders the ability to function normally.

• Abnormal Motor Behavior: This may include:

  • Resistance to instruction.

  • Inappropriate posture.

  • Lack of response.

  • Useless movements

• Cognitive Symptoms: This may include:

  • Difficulty in concentrating.

  • Memory issues.

  • Problem processing and utilizing information.

How Is Adolescent Schizophrenia Diagnosed?

The initial diagnosis of this condition is a bit difficult, where the doctor rules out the condition with the help of the signs and symptoms experienced by the person. They also rule out any other cause for the signs and symptoms, which may be caused due to mental illness, any other medical condition, or usage of drugs or alcohol. Diagnosing this condition is complex; the doctor should ensure nothing else is happening during the diagnosis.

How Is Adolescent Schizophrenia Managed?

People affected by this condition require treatment throughout their life. Treating people affected by schizophrenia includes

• Medical history, age, and overall health.

• Extent and severity of the condition.

• Type of schizophrenia by which the person is affected.

• Tolerance of the adolescent for specific therapy and drug.

• Opinion and preference.

Some Treatment Modalities Include

• Medications: Antipsychotic medications are the first line of treatment for all forms of schizophrenia, including children, teens, and adults. They help to deal with psychotic symptoms like hallucinations and delusion. Along with this medication, some may also require anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs. It will take some time for the doctors to find which drug or combination works well for the affected person. These medications help to manage the signs and symptoms. These drugs can cause severe side effects, which doctors will monitor and manage through other medications.

• Mood-stabilizing agents can be used in the initial stages of this condition.

• Family and individual person psychotherapy, which includes supportive, cognitive, and behavioral therapy.

• Educational or structural activities.

• Support groups.

How Can Adolescent Schizophrenia Be Prevented?

There is no proper method by which this condition can be prevented. Early diagnosis and treatment help improve the affected person's quality of life. Treatment is successful when the first symptom of the psychotic episode is diagnosed and treated properly. The person affected by adolescent schizophrenia needs to stick to the medication regimen, where the dosage can be altered periodically.

What Is the Risk Factor of Adolescent Schizophrenia?

Even the exact cause of this condition is not completely known; some risk factors include

• Family history of schizophrenia.

• Enhance activation of the immune system.

• Father being of older age.

• Pregnancy complications like malnutrition or toxicity, or viruses that impact the development of the brain.

• Psychoactive drug during teen.

What Are the Complications of Adolescent Schizophrenia?

• Suicidal thoughts.

• Social isolation.

• Self-injury or self-hurt.

• Anxiety or panic disorders.

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

• Depression.

• Alcohol abuse.

• Feeling of being a victim.

• Medical conditions.

• Financial issues.

• Aggressive behavior.

When Should the Person See a Doctor?

The people affected by this condition will be concluded as being affected by some mental illness. It is very difficult for the people around the affected person to handle the vague behavioral change. The affected child’s teacher may warn the parents regarding the behavioral changes seen in the child. Medical care should be given as soon as possible if the person is suspected of this condition.

Conclusion

Adolescent schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that causes hallucinations, delusion, and disturbed behavioral changes. It can affect both children and adults. This condition requires life-long treatment. Medications and other therapies combined can help. Early diagnosis and treatment can help improve the affected person's life.