First signs of schizophrenia in teen?

[Anonymous]

Hugs to OP. I am thinking of you and sending good wishes your way.

[Anonymous]

My brother was in his mid 20s and living on his own. He quit us job without another one and became more withdrawn from the family with strange, not practical ideas on how he was going to make money instead. He would go long times without talking to us. A couple years later he went completely missing and we were contacted by one of his friends, who couldn’t find him. He was found days later on the streets, barely alive. There were many years of paranoia and hallucinations that followed.

[Anonymous]

Read the center cannot hold by elyn saks

[Anonymous]

^adding to the above after reading others, I forgot about this initially but long periods of time where he was afraid of water. He wouldn’t shower or drink it and then had to be hospitalized for dehydration.

I want to give some positive news too - he’s functioning well now in his 40s. He has difficulty keeping a job but has been stable for many years. He flew to be with the extended family for Thanksgiving so we are far away from those days. We never gave up that he was still there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^also childhood trauma.

Childhood trauma and cannabis exposure in adolescence are risk factors for developing schizophrenia, but not first signs. The latter is strong enough that I will move hell and high water to keep my kids away from weed.

Early intervention is SO important for long-term outcomes. Look for centers/states offering Coordinated Specialty Care, which is the gold standard for treatment of first episode psychosis. Frankly, if you have any concerns, get your kid checked out by a psychiatrist experienced with schizophrenia.

[Anonymous]

We could hear him arguing and lecturing alone in his room. My mom said he was on the phone, but he wasn’t. When asked, he denied speaking. Horrible anti-woman rants.

My brother became increasingly paranoid about contagion. He was worried not only about germs/illness, but also developed ideas that certain foods or substances were impure. We’re Catholic so we don’t have any dietary or menstrual taboos, but he started behaving as if they did. I still lived at home at that time and he decided I was unclean when I had my period. Not that I was bleeding on anything. Just touching a plate or chair, I was making it unclean. This didn’t come out of Catholicism. We grew up with crunchy, Liberation theology Catholicism.

Later, we learned he was under the influence of a Hotep guru who sold cassette tapes near Lexington market.

[Anonymous]

One thing I want to mention is auditory hallucinations aren't always a sign of mental illness.

Hearing impairment can cause auditory hallucinations. For example, some people with hearing loss may hear things wrong because their brain is trying to make sense of what it hears. Some people also get musical hallucinations. It's called musical ear syndrome.

I know an elderly lady who had the musical ear syndrome. She thought her neighbors were playing nonstop music. Nope. Malfunctioning ears.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When talking to Mom about her little brother who had schizophrenia first signs were smart, quirky and talking to himself.

She specifically mentioned quirky as in he was different than most males of his age bracket.

The quirky part is common for ASD and ADHD so I am surprised that is what she emphasized over "talking to himself." When I got some training with schizophrenia the parents mentioned long before the break seeing things like the teen was becoming more isolated, slightly paranoid, caring less and less about hygiene, talked to him/herself, etc. Now many may have started off with the diagnoses you think of with quirkiness, but over time they were seeing more concerning symptoms, though the person was still handing attending school and carrying out every day activities.

**I am no expert, but I did get some training from experts and I didn't want parents with quirky kids to panic. Being quirky on it's own is not a red flag for future schizophrenia.

[Anonymous]

Schizophrenia has been linked to the mother having the flu during pregnancy. That's why there are certain birth months more likely for schizophrenia.

[Anonymous]

drug use

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Childhood ADHD. There is a significant link.

The vast majority of children with ADHD do not go on to develop schizophrenia. ADHD in childhood is not an early warning sign of schizophrenia.

There are actually genetic tests you can do now. For some kinds. And research shows smoking weed before 18 actually lays a track for the disease to run on. It’s super interesting research wise.[/quote

Is it specifically smoking, or woukd gummies do it too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schizophrenia has been linked to the mother having the flu during pregnancy. That's why there are certain birth months more likely for schizophrenia.

The flu shot? Of just the flu?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Childhood ADHD. There is a significant link.

The vast majority of children with ADHD do not go on to develop schizophrenia. ADHD in childhood is not an early warning sign of schizophrenia.

Of course but ADHD is a co-morbidity. A child with ADHD is at significantly higher risk for schizophrenia so it is something to be aware of.

[Anonymous]

Please have your child evaluated. This is the most updated directory based on where you at
https://med.stanford.edu/peppnet/interactivedirectory.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^also childhood trauma.

Childhood trauma and cannabis exposure in adolescence are risk factors for developing schizophrenia, but not first signs. The latter is strong enough that I will move hell and high water to keep my kids away from weed.

Early intervention is SO important for long-term outcomes. Look for centers/states offering Coordinated Specialty Care, which is the gold standard for treatment of first episode psychosis. Frankly, if you have any concerns, get your kid checked out by a psychiatrist experienced with schizophrenia.

Can you share any more about this?