100 Q&As About Your Child's Schizophrenia

Title......Page 2
Copyright......Page 3
Contents......Page 6
Introduction......Page 10
Part One: The Basics......Page 12
1. What is “Childhood Schizophrenia” (also called Child Onset Schizophrenia or COS)?......Page 13
2. What is the difference between thought disorder, psychosis (psychotic thinking), schizophrenic-like psychosis, and schizophrenic?......Page 16
3. Is my child insane?......Page 20
Part Two: Signs and Symptoms: The Diagnosis......Page 24
4. My child says that he hears voices. What does this mean?......Page 25
5. How is a thought disorder detected in a child?......Page 27
6. My child is absolutely convinced that someone is following him. What does this mean?......Page 29
7. What are the different types of schizophrenia?......Page 31
8. Is my child less intelligent because of schizophrenia?......Page 35
9. My adolescent stays in his room all the time and does not communicate with us. Is this normal in that age group? Is he lazy? Is he depressed?......Page 36
10. Earlier, you described the positive symptoms like hallucinations. But what are the negative symptoms?......Page 37
11. My child has admitted to using illicit drugs. Can he become psychotic or even schizophrenic because of this?......Page 39
13. What if my child who has schizophrenia goes to a party and drinks alcohol?......Page 43
14. What are the risks of smoking?......Page 44
15. What is the relationship between schizophrenia and epilepsy?......Page 45
16. What is the frequency of childhood schizophrenia?......Page 47
17. What are the precursors, or early indications, of schizophrenia in childhood?......Page 48
18. What is the age of onset and how does it start?......Page 49
20. What is the course of the illness?......Page 51
21. Are there laboratory tests, X-rays, scans, or biological markers of schizophrenia?......Page 54
Part Three: Causes of Schizophrenia......Page 58
23. Are there any neuropsychological tests for schizophrenia?......Page 59
24. Is schizophrenia in children due to psychological trauma, problems in the family, or bad parenting?......Page 60
25. What about the environment? Are there any toxins that may have caused schizophrenia in my child?......Page 62
26. Is schizophrenia genetic? Is it inherited? What are the genetics involved?......Page 66
27. So is genetic testing worth doing for schizophrenia? Is the research on this making headway?......Page 72
29. What does it mean when doctors talk about chemical imbalance?......Page 74
31. What laboratory tests are done and what could they show?......Page 79
32. What does an electroencephalogram (EEG) show?......Page 80
33. What do radiology tests like scans show?......Page 81
Part Four: Differential Diagnosis......Page 84
35. What is the difference between psychosis and schizophrenia?......Page 85
36. What is the difference between schizophreniform disorder and schizophrenia?......Page 86
37. If you can have a psychotic process in mood disorders, how do you know the difference between a mood disorder and schizophrenia?......Page 87
38. My son hears voices but the psychiatrist says it is not schizophrenia. Why?......Page 89
40. My child is schizophrenic and his doctor says that he became catatonic. What does that mean?......Page 90
Part Five: Treatment of Schizophrenia: Medications......Page 94
41. What are the consequences if my child with schizophrenia is not treated? After all, the problems may go away.......Page 95
42. What is the rationale for medications? Will it be the only treatment?......Page 96
43. Can schizophrenia be treated without medication in children?......Page 99
44. Will my child respond differently from adults to the medication?......Page 100
47. What are the side effects of antipsychotic medications?......Page 102
48. If my child is to take medications, are there questions to ask the doctor?......Page 115
49. Are there any special precautions that we should take when our child is put on antipsychotic medications?......Page 117
50. How long should medication be taken?......Page 118
51. What about long-acting medicines? Are they better?......Page 119
52. I have heard that if someone is taking more than one drug there can be interactions between the drugs and they may cancel each other out or even hurt the patient. My child takes other drugs prescribed by our doctor. How can I check this to see if there is a problem?......Page 120
53. Why do we need long-term monitoring?......Page 122
54. What about comorbid (simultaneous) medical or psychiatric disorders? How is this handled?......Page 123
55. What about birth control and pregnancy?......Page 124
56. Should I get a second opinion from another psychiatrist if the diagnosis of schizophrenia is made or suggested?......Page 126
Part Six: Treatment of Schizophrenia: Beyond Medications......Page 130
57. What about Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)? Is there a role for this?......Page 131
58. What about brain surgery for schizophrenia?......Page 132
59. What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?......Page 134
61. What about family therapy?......Page 135
Part Seven: Family, Friends, and the Community......Page 136
62. Do we still talk about the “schizophrenogenic mother”?......Page 137
63. What is the role of family members and my child’s friends in her treatment? What should we tell them?......Page 138
64. What do I tell other people? There is still a stigma.......Page 139
65. How do I deal with my child’s brothers and sisters?......Page 140
66. Should I try to get the rest of the family to help in the treatment of my child?......Page 141
67. Does group therapy exist for schizophrenia?......Page 143
Part Eight: Treatment Centers, Hospitalization, and Residential Facilities......Page 144
68. What about hospitalization? When is it needed and when is voluntary hospitalization worthwhile? Should it be short-term or long-term?......Page 145
70. What about day treatment programs?......Page 146
71. What about after-school programs? Are they useful for continuity of care?......Page 147
72. Our child has now stabilized, takes his medicine, and is doing rather well. What further outpatient treatment do we need?......Page 148
Part Nine: Surviving......Page 150
73. What if we cannot afford the medications? Are we stuck? Is there any way to get help?......Page 151
74. What about generic drugs. Are they okay? How about drugs from Internet pharmacies?......Page 152
75. I have concerns about the psychiatrist using psychotropic drugs “off-label.” Should I accept this?......Page 153
76. Should I place my child with schizophrenia in a clinical research treatment trial for a new drug?......Page 155
77. How do we reduce the risks of relapse and decrease any residual symptoms?......Page 157
79. Is it appropriate to medicate preschoolers with these strong drugs?......Page 159
80. What are the changes in the brain due to the antipsychotic medications that we know of ?......Page 160
81. What are the data for violence? Are schizophrenic children dangerous?......Page 161
82. Can we predict violence?......Page 162
83. What about crimes and schizophrenic adolescents in juvenile detention centers?......Page 163
85. What about fire-setters? Are they schizophrenics?......Page 164
86. How often do young schizophrenics commit suicide? How do we prevent suicide?......Page 165
87. What if my child needs restraints or seclusion in the hospital?......Page 166
88. Does my son need special education (special ed) because of his schizophrenia?......Page 167
89. How should we handle the education of our son in each school?......Page 168
90. Are vocational careers and/or part-time jobs more appropriate than college or high school?......Page 170
91. What do we do about friends and hobbies? And what about blogs and Facebook?......Page 171
92. What about dating? Should this be permitted? What do we need to know and do? Any issues with sex education counseling? Is there a relationship between schizophrenia and homosexuality?......Page 172
93. Is driving a car okay? Where we live a car is almost a necessity.......Page 175
94. What do we know about prognosis?......Page 176
95. How is the outcome tied to the treatment?......Page 177
96. How do we help our child cope? Any particular strategies or pointers?......Page 178
97. How quickly should we act when symptoms appear, either the first time or after he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia? Is very early diagnosis and treatment a good thing?......Page 181
98. Should a child or an adolescent at very high risk for schizophrenia be treated in the prodromal phase?......Page 183
99. May I force medications against my child’s will? Should I go to court?......Page 184
100. Does insurance usually cover the costs of schizophrenia treatment?......Page 185
Appendix......Page 190
Glossary......Page 198
Index......Page 208