Schizophrenia in Pre-school Children: Two Case Reports With Longitudinal Follow-up for 6 and 8 Years

Abstract

Although schizophrenia is often thought of as an adolescent- or adult-onset disorder, there has been an increasing awareness over 90 years that schizophrenia can present in 6-12 year olds. There has been less focus on schizophrenia in children under the age of 6. We report here on two children diagnosed, at 4.25 and 5.92 years, with schizophrenia. Retrospectively, both children had psychotic symptoms documented during mental health evaluations prior to their fourth birthday. Both children had at least partial symptom reduction on antipsychotic medication, but both children were also highly sensitive to the side effects of treatment. Discussion focuses primarily on diagnostic issues, and provides some observations about treatment responsiveness.