I was wondering if there were anyone could provide some tips when assessing for psychotic symptoms in children. The other day I saw a 7yo girl for her first med-check following her initial eval. CC was that the child was having tantrums, defiant behaviors, and seemed to be responding to internal stimuli. Apparently the doc thought that she had some psychotic symptoms too, specifically auditory hallucinations. She started the child on aripiprazole 2mg hs.
Since the last visit, the client apparently had less defiant and oppositional behavior and no more AH. My doc assessed this by asking "are you hearing anything in your head? Any strange voices?" She repeated some variation of this question 2 or 3 more times. The girl denied any symptoms. During other cases, I've seen her do the same thing when assessing kids for other things, ie. si/hi. Some have unfortunately answered yes after the 4th of 5th iteration.
I was hoping to learn some other methods to assess these younger school age kids. Can anyone suggest some tips? With older kids, I've been able to assess for perceptual abnormalities using similar methods I've used with adults. With young kids I sometimes like to have kids draw and if they provide some distressing/bizarre images, I will explore them. Any pearls of wisdom would be appreciated.
Since the last visit, the client apparently had less defiant and oppositional behavior and no more AH. My doc assessed this by asking "are you hearing anything in your head? Any strange voices?" She repeated some variation of this question 2 or 3 more times. The girl denied any symptoms. During other cases, I've seen her do the same thing when assessing kids for other things, ie. si/hi. Some have unfortunately answered yes after the 4th of 5th iteration.
I was hoping to learn some other methods to assess these younger school age kids. Can anyone suggest some tips? With older kids, I've been able to assess for perceptual abnormalities using similar methods I've used with adults. With young kids I sometimes like to have kids draw and if they provide some distressing/bizarre images, I will explore them. Any pearls of wisdom would be appreciated.