7 year old schizophrenic on Oprah

[animas]

Did anyone see this on Oprah? It was pretty heartbreaking. Both parents are on antidepressants, dad tried to OD on his pills (fortunately, antidepressants are safe in OD), kid has to live in a separate apt, and she's on both Clozaril and Lithium.

Have any of you ever worked with kids with schizophrenia at such a young age?

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[loveoforganic]

Pretty sure we had a 9 y/o schizoaffective at the hospital I volunteered at (obviously can't comment on the validity of the diagnosis).

 

[pingouin]

NIMH has some very interesting ongoing research on childhood onset schizophrenia. It's not terribly common, but it does exist.

http://intramural.nimh.nih.gov/chp/cos/

 

[kugel]

New onset schizophrenia always breaks my heart.
Childhood onset is so much more tragic.

I can't ever see it without the depressing thought that this patient has a terminal illness that will take 60-70 years to kill him. I always hope the symptoms are exaggerated or feigned somehow, or even for some horrific medical cause for the symptoms. I know there is hope of effective treatment and recovery, but I always take it pretty hard.

 

[Doc Samson]

Did anyone see this on Oprah? It was pretty heartbreaking. Both parents are on antidepressants, dad tried to OD on his pills (fortunately, antidepressants are safe in OD), kid has to live in a separate apt, and she's on both Clozaril and Lithium.

Have any of you ever worked with kids with schizophrenia at such a young age?

Rare, but I've seen it.

BTW, saying antidepressants are safe in OD is a vast generalization, especially considering that tricyclic overdose can easily be fatal. One of the reasons SSRIs have become so ubiquitous is because nonpsychiatrists feel comfortable prescribing them due to the dramatically improved safety profile vs. TCAs.

 

[BobA]

I saw it in a 13yo. I think she first had symptoms around age 9.

 

[Thorazine]

on clozaril at 7 years old??? wow, just wow.

 

[Regnvejr]

A word of caution on the diagnosis. At that age, schizophrenic symptoms could simply be manifestation of social stressors, especially with that family history. It all depends on the child's perception of control and consistency in their own life. I have seen several kids with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder (more the latter), and their symptoms were solid and pervasive, and who clear up once they get around 16-18 years, and spend a year with the sane aunt or in a group home.

Children and adolescent really cannot reliably receive such permanent diagnoses unless there is nothing else in their life troubling them, even f.ex. older brother frequently raping them and nobody knows. To tease out and rule out all the social contributors that could give these symptoms is a monumental effort.

 

[luft]

here is a link to a site with the "interview"Oprah Interview of 7 year old schizophrenic