The psychotic child.
Psychosis in children and adolescents is a relatively rare entity, with a plethora of possible origins. Appropriate evaluation and treatment can stem only from a complete understanding of the differential diagnosis of psychotic presentations in children. Once the acute presentation is stabilized and the cause for the psychosis accurately identified, the child can be referred appropriately to ongoing psychiatric care or substance abuse treatment, or he or she can be handed over to another medical specialty to further treat the underlying cause when there is a medical cause for the psychosis.
Semper
Thomas F
TF
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, 4800 Sand Point Way Northeast, Mail Stop 6F-1, Seattle, WA 98105, USA. tsemper@u.washington.edu
McClellan
Jon M
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011613:Psychotherapy; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*