Childhood schizophrenia

Childhood schizophrenia, also known as childhood-onset schizophrenia or very early-onset schizophrenia, shares its core characteristics with schizophrenia that develops later in life, with the major difference being that it begins before the age of 13 and is considerably more difficult to diagnose. Children with the condition experience positive symptoms that can include hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech, alongside negative symptoms such as blunted affect, avolition, and apathy, together with a number of cognitive impairments. Diagnosis is complicated because several other neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, language disorder, and attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder, can produce signs and symptoms that resemble childhood-onset schizophrenia. In practice, the condition affects children through auditory and visual hallucinations, delusional thoughts or feelings, and abnormal behavior, and it profoundly impacts a child's ability to function day to day and to sustain normal relationships with other people. The condition is treated with antipsychotic medication and is estimated to affect approximately 1.66 children per 1,000 between the ages of 0 and 14.