Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia: A Life Interrupted
Most of us have heard of schizophrenia, but we don’t know exactly what it is (it’s not split personality!), or how to recognize it, or even when it’s most likely to show its first signs. The fact is, schizophrenia generally does strike young people, rather than adults; but it doesn’t usually appear in children before they reach their teens. But when it does, it’s even more devastating than in an older child, and you need to get expert help immediately. In this program, you’ll see what happened when one family’s nine-year-old son began hearing voices, and having hallucinations – the classic signs of childhood-onset schizophrenia.
GUESTS:
Parker Orton - Child with Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia
Ed and Meredith Morgan Orton - Parker's Parents
Maggie Orton - Parker's Sister
Richard Leit, PhD - Parker's Therapist. PhD, Private Practice in Livingston, NJ. Also affiliated with Children's Specialized Hospital, Mountainside, NJ
Karen Sniezek - Mother of Child with Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia
Judith Rapoport, MD - Chief, Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health;
She is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Rapoport's laboratory investigates the clinical phenomenology, neurobiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders in children, including Childhood Onset Schizophrenia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Nitin Gogtay, MD - Staff Physician, Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute on Mental Health; Research at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Sydney University in Australia, and later at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, before joining Psychiatry Residency at Cornell. He joined the Child Psychiatry Branch in 2000 and is currently a staff physician working on the childhood onset schizophrenia project. Dr. Gogtay's primary interest is in studying the normal and abnormal brain development, along with the clinical phenomenology and neurobiology of childhood onset psychotic disorders.
Education: Dr. Gogtay received his MD from BJ Medical College in India in 1986 where he also received formal training in pathology and neuropathology.
Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman - Director, NYS Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Medical Center; Chairman and Lieber Professor of Psychiatry, directs the Lieber Center for Schizophrenia Research; Lawrence E. Kolb Chairman of Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute; Publications: "Psychiatry" textbook; "Comprehensive Care of Schizophrenia"; "Ethical Issues in Psychiatric Research: A Research Manual on Human Subjects Protection"; "Psychiatric Drugs"
TIPS & HINTS:
Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic, and disabling brain disease that affects approximately 1 percent of the world's population,. Contrary to the popular misconception, people with schizophrenia do not have a "split" personality. Rather, they experience severe mental disturbances in which normal thoughts, speech, and behavior are disrupted. Schizophrenia researchers generally believe the illness is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and that, in people with a genetic predisposition, the likelihood of schizophrenic episodes can be increased or triggered by the use of street drugs, including marijuana.
Most people who develop schizophrenia exhibit the first symptoms of the disease in their teens or early twenties. However, a much smaller percentage develop symptoms before age 13, sometimes as early as age 7. When a child develops psychiatric symptoms before he or she turns 13, it is called Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia. Researchers believe that the genetic component of the illness plays a bigger role in such early-onset schizophrenia than it does in adolescent- or adult-onset varieties of the disease. These children also show greater evidence of abnormal brain development, including loss of gray matter in the brain. Early diagnosis and medical treatment are important. Schizophrenia is a life-long disease that can be controlled but not cured. Childhood-onset schizophrenia is generally more difficult to treat than is schizophrenia that comes on later in life, and doctors at the National Institute of Mental Health say that in general, the children tend to become, and often stay, more severely ill than is the case with adolescent-onset schizophrenia..
Symptoms of Schizophrenia (in general)
The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three main categories:
- Positive symptoms, including unusual thoughts or perceptions that include hallucinations (disturbances of sensory perception, such as "seeing things" or "hearing things"), delusions (false beliefs, such as the belief that people are reading their thoughts or plotting against them,) and thought disorder (one mother described it as though the child had "a blender running in his brain"). Disorganization of thought is sometimes listed under the category of "cognitive symptoms," below.
- Negative symptoms, including a loss or a decrease in the ability to initiate plans, speak, or interact with others (there may be a withdrawal from interaction), emotional flatness or lack of expression, speech that is brief and devoid of content, or an inability to find pleasure in everyday life. ("Negative" does not refer to a person's attitude but to a lack of certain characteristics that should be there.) These symptoms are harder to recognize as part of the disorder and can be mistaken for laziness or depression.
- Cognitive symptoms (or cognitive deficits), including problems with attention, certain types of memory, and the executive functions that allow us to plan and organize our everyday lives. Cognitive deficits can also be difficult to recognize as part of the disorder but are the most disabling in terms of leading a normal life.
Symptoms of Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia
(Source: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - see resource list below)
"The symptoms and behavior of children and adolescents with schizophrenia may differ from that of adults with this illness. The following symptoms and behaviors can occur in children or adolescents with schizophrenia:
- seeing things and hearing voices which are not real (hallucinations),
- odd and eccentric behavior, and/or speech,
- unusual or bizarre thoughts and ideas,
- confusing television and dreams [with] reality,
- confused thinking,
- extreme moodiness,
- ideas that people are "out to get them," or talking about them, (paranoia)
- severe anxiety and fearfulness,
- difficulty relating to peers, and keeping friends.
- withdrawn and increased isolation,
- decline in personal hygiene
Additional Information:
(Source: Rethink - British mental health website-see resource information below)
Many "children with schizophrenia show delays in language and other functions long before their psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking) appear, usually at age seven or later. In the first years of life, about 30% of these children have temporary symptoms of developmental disorder, such as rocking, posturing and arm flapping.... The schizophrenic psychosis (hallucinations, delusions and sense of unreality) develops gradually in children, without the sudden psychotic break that sometimes occurs in adolescents and adults."
Treatment for Schizophrenia
(Source: NARSAD-The Mental Health Research Association-see resource information below)
"Treatment is aimed at reducing symptoms and preventing psychotic relapses and is believed to be most effective when begun early in the course of the illness. Schizophrenia is usually treated with antipsychotic medication. Once acute symptoms have lessened, a combination of medicine and psychosocial/rehabilitation interventions can be beneficial. Because schizophrenia is a chronic condition, disease management is a life-long process."
RESOURCES
Information about Studies in which your child can participate can be found at:
http://patientinfo.nimh.nih.gov/SchizophreniaPediatric.aspx
The doctors from the Child Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, who appeared in this episode of Keeping Kids Healthy, conduct research on the diagnosis, treatment, and neurobiology of childhood psychiatric disorders. Brain imaging, genetic, and drug-treatment studies are ongoing for childhood-onset schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia.com
www.schizophrenia.com/index.php
NARSAD - The Mental Health Research Association
http://www.narsad.org/
60 Cutter Mill Road, Suite 404
Great Neck, New York 11021 USA
1-800-829-8289
NARSAD supports research programs and provides educational symposia and free online publications about mental illness. Its web site provides summaries and links to the latest news and research developments related to schizophrenia and other psychological disorders, as well as basic information about each of the conditions and free downloadable fact sheets. The NARSAD telephone information line (Infoline) answers basic questions about the symptoms, causes and treatments of psychological illnesses and provides information about support groups and other mental health organizations.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
http://aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/schizophrenia_in_children
3615 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.20016-3007
The AACAP website lists important facts about schizophrenia and other mental illnesses in children; it is also a good resource for finding a child or adolescent psychiatrist.
Mental Health America
www.mentalhealthamerica.net/index.cfm?objectId=C7DF8F81-1372-4D20-C84C5539FAB14576
2000 N. Beauregard Street
6th Floor Alexandria, VA 22311
This is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people live mentally healthier lives. They advocate for mental health as a public health and social justice issue, educate the public about ways to preserve and strengthen its mental health, fight for access to effective care and an end to discrimination against people with mental and addictive disorders; foster innovation in research, practice, services and policy; and provide support to the 60+ million individuals and families living with mental health and substance use problems.
The North American Society for Childhood Onset Schizophrenia (NASCOS)
www.nascos.org/Home
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
E-mail: info@nascos.org
NASCOS is a non-profit, internet-based group formed to provide a Web site devoted solely to childhood onset schizophrenia (COS). Families, caregivers and medical professionals will be able to locate and contact each other in order to access and share information related to this rare, devastating disease. Founded by Ed Orton and Karen Sniezek, parents who appeared on this episode of Keeping Kids Healthy, this website provides numerous links to helpful sites about "C.O.S.," Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia. .
Rethink
www.rethink.org
Phone: 0845 456 0455
E-mail: info@rethink.org or advice@rethink.org
Rethink works toward securing a better life for those who are recovering from mental illness. They provide services, information and support to those affected, and hope to empower their members with such tactics.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
http://www.nami.org/
Main: 703-524-7600
2107 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300
Arlington, VA 22201-3042
info@nami.org
NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness and their families. Founded in 1979, NAMI has organizations in every state and in over 1100 local communities across the country, who join together to meet the NAMI mission through advocacy, research, support, and education. Their website contains information on illnesses, research, and support.
