Clinical review of childhood psychoses

Abstract

The clinical recognition of childhood psychosis is a relatively recent development and remains a subject of considerable controversy. Childhood psychosis began to be acknowledged after psychologists and psychiatrists overcame certain limiting perspectives: as long as children were regarded as miniature adults, it was difficult to accept that they could suffer from a psychotic disorder, since the psychopathological symptoms in children bore little resemblance to the models recognized in adults (schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, etc.). With the advancement of developmental psychology and the subsequent establishment of normal behavioural patterns, which are highly variable, it became possible to identify abnormal profiles, including psychotic syndromes.