The birth of a child is a joyful event for the whole family and, first of all, for parents, but few people know that mental abnormalities can occur already in the womb due to damage to the fetus, poor-quality feeding, or bad habits thereof. However, this is not about that now. Today we will talk about how to identify the first signs of mental disorders in a child.
The course of the disease in children of different ages
- 0 years — 3 years. At such a young age, it is almost impossible to determine the presence of the disease, but some signs are still present — the baby practically does not cry, does not show any primitive emotions, including not even reaching out to his mother, does not respond to feeding. The child is lethargic and inactive, indifferent to uncomfortable conditions. There is motor excitation, the child twitches his arms or legs, it does not look like ordinary activity, but like automatisms. In some cases, it happens that the baby cries all day, and at night anxiety attacks are added to the crying, there can be 3-4 of them per night. At 2-3 years old, babies become unsmiling, inactive, it also happens that children who have learned to walk lose this ability. Toddlers are in a state of constant aimless walking in a circle or back and forth, while the face becomes detached. Despite walking for more than an hour, they show no signs of fatigue. In general, the picture of the disease is simple — children repeat the same action over and over again, a regression of acquired abilities occurs.
- 3-7 years. Schizophrenia in preschoolers is characterized by emotional detachment, communication with peers is limited, and there is no manifestation of warm feelings for parents. The child becomes capricious, his mood undergoes constant changes — so, a second ago he was laughing, and now there is a cold grimace on his face. Children do not show interest in their appearance, begin to neglect daily hygiene, they can easily go to bed on the floor. The behavior also changes. It becomes typical for young children — for example, the child has long been coping with a spoon and fork, but suddenly begins to eat with his hands and scatter food on the table. A preschooler spends almost all his free time alone, his games become simple and primitive, lose any plot. He enjoys performing a specific action, not the game itself. So, the child can methodically open and close the cabinet door for a long time. The disorder has a special effect on speech — ordinary thoughts become difficult to interpret into a normal phrase. Thoughts get confused and the story becomes incoherent.
Schizophrenia in preschoolers is manifested, among other things, in fantasizing, and imaginary objects are persistent and often unrealistic. Productive symptoms are expressed by delirium and hallucinations. The child peers into a dark corner and says that there is a lilac wolf, and a snake is crawling on the floor. Voice hallucinations are manifested in the form of a cock’s cry, less often the child hears the voices of cartoon characters.
- At 6-7 years old, the formation of the child’s psyche is directly related to the school. Children with disabilities do not learn the material well and lag far behind their peers in development. The thing is that they cannot see the whole picture, dividing it into parts. Memory is selective, the child remembers only what he is really interested in. A lack of will develops, the student cannot force himself to do anything even understanding the need for this.
Diagnosis of the disease at such an early age begins in the family. The more attentive the parents are to their child, the greater the chance that the problem will be detected in time, and the measures taken will give a result, which will allow the child to live a full life in the future.