Schizophrenia in Kids

Schizophrenia in children is a rare occurrence and the chance of a child getting it below 12 years of age is 3 in every 1000 kids. This is a very serious mental condition in which the person behaves in a very unusual fashion and has weird feelings and thoughts coming to his/her head. In schizophrenia, hallucination is a very common symptom wherein a person sees people or things and hears voices that are not there. The person also has delusions in which they believe only certain things to be true irrespective of what the fact is; and only want to believe what they feel is right. Though the illness is the same, the symptoms are different in adults and children; where the symptoms might not be known in the beginning at all.

Children with schizophrenia will get distracted very easily, have high levels of anxiety, extreme mood swings, are aloof from everyone, not aware of what is happening in reality and are very fearful. The behavior will slowly change over time and you will see that if your child is very outgoing and fun loving, he might start being alone and be lost in his own world or might stick to parents all the time and talk about things that do not make sense. The cause for schizophrenia is not known but it is said to be the result of a variety of external as well as internal factors. Some say that it is hereditary but this is rarely the case.

Treatment for childhood schizophrenia depends upon the seriousness of the illness although there are certain common medicines that may be prescribed by your doctor for the same. Individual or family therapy may be required depending on the severity of the case. It is essential that you take a lot of care of your child and try to make them as comfortable as possible and give them all the love they need. Along with all the medications and treatments, it is important that you pay attention to their diet as that helps in recovery. Give your child a healthy and nutritious meal that includes a lot of carbohydrates and proteins with all the vitamins and minerals. An intake of protein rich diet helps to improve the concentration levels of an individual.  A diet rich in carbohydrates like whole grains, vegetables, legumes and so on would enable to calm the mind. This is done by reducing the anxiousness of the patient because the serotonin levels in the blood increase.