Psychotic disorder

Please answer these two questions by given you ideas and research findings to the below discussion. Please don’t copy the document to my paper. Only answer the questions in your response. Thanks

1.What are some early signs of psychosis in children- that could be easily missed- that should warrant an assessment?

Hallucinatory (false perceptions involving any sensory modality) experiences and delusions (false implausible beliefs) are more common and occur frequently in the pediatric population. These signs of psychosis can easily be missed as children are at the stage in life where they have vivid imaginations. Children between the ages of 4- 8 years have imaginary friends with whom they talk. This just represents imaginative play, which is completely normal for children (APA, 2010). The fantasy lives of children, and issues of developing language and cognition can all be easily overlooked by the caregiver as child’s play. Deficits including those in attention, learning, and abstraction, are also observed in the child patient with schizophrenia (First et al., 2015).

2. What are the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia? What is the difference between early onset and very early onset schizophrenia?
Some of the positive symptoms of Schizophrenia include hallucinations and delusion . With hallucinations there’s perceptual experience without external stimulus. Perceptions may be visual, auditory, or tactile. Delusion consists of false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality. Delusions content may include a variety of themes including Persecutory Delusions; Referential Delusions; Grandiose Delusions; Erotomanic Delusions; Nihilistic Delusions; and Somatic Delusions(APA, 2013).
Negative symptoms may include
– Lack of affect
– Impoverished speech
– Lack of motivation
– Decreased ability to enjoy things
– Social withdrawal. Negative symptoms contribute to social and functional decline. When present, they often remain as residual symptoms even whenpositive symptoms resolve (APA, 2013).

Very early-onset schizophrenia is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and cognitive impairment in children less than 13 years old. Very early-onset schizophrenia tends to present insidiously, with a premorbid period characterized by developmental delay and diminished school performance. Very early-onset schizophrenia is the pediatric counterpart to early-onset schizophrenia, which affects adolescents 13–18 years old. Early onset schizophrenia comprises of hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia (First et al., 2015)