What is Adolescent Schizophrenia

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One big question would be what actually is adolescent schizophrenia? In all cases there are positive and negative symptoms. A child’s life can be altered dramatically if not diagnosed or treated soon enough. Sadly sometimes this disorder will become a life long struggle. The parents and family of the child always have to worry about their child reacting to something and what those problems could turn into.
To answer the question stated earlier, adolescent schizophrenia is an interesting and puzzling disorder where the brain becomes severely immobilized. There are 4 main types of schizophrenia all based on age. Very early onset schizophrenia, VEOS, occurs before the child’s 13th birthday. Early onset schizophrenia, EOS, will be seen before the 18th birthday. Childhood onset schizophrenia, COS, which occurs at the pre-pubertal stage, in relation to the chronological age of the child, will be shown when the child is 12 years old or younger. Finally adolescent-onset schizophrenia is shown between the ages of 13 and 17. Some of the main reasons for this disorder are neurobiological and neurophysiological difficulties and genetic problems. The problematic part of the genes happen on chromosomes 6, 8,10,13,18 and 22. With neurobiological problems, some symptoms would be reduced cerebral volume, changes in serotonergic and noradrenergic systems. Neurophysiological aspects consist of a lowered IQ, reduced language perception, poor speech production and formal thought disorders. Many other problems can come with having schizophrenia. Some the main reoccurring problems that are associated with this disorder are hallucinations and delusions, and there is actually a vast difference between the two. Hallucinations can be auditory, gustatory or ...

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...tes of being diagnosed with another type of disorder. This is called comorbid conditions. Some main disorders that might be associated with EOS are anxiety and depression. A few problems that can arise from having comorbid conditions are that the child can obtain cognitive difficulties and developmental delays. Before doctors really look into the child having comorbid conditions, they will think that the child is suffering from autism disorder (McDonell & McClellan). In children with EOS, substance abuse can become a massive problem as they get older. One of the biggest abuses would be nicotine (NIMH, 2007).
A child with schizophrenia definitely leads a completely different life then a child without this disorder. Simple tasks as brushing their teeth and getting dressed can turn into an extremely difficult experience not only for the child but also for the parents.

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