Childhood schizophrenia

In this original and powerful book, Dr. Sheila Cantor explains and enlivens a perennially controversial subject via detailed case histories of 54 schizophrenic children. Her understanding of the disorder and her empathy for its young victims afford a poignant and yet highly critical examination of the difficulties involved in the assessment and treatment of childhood schizophrenia. The specificity of her study, and the wealth of relevant data on which Dr. Cantor builds her approach make for the kind of concreteness that is central to an understanding of the elusive schizophrenias. She begins her book with a review of 130 years of the psychiatric literature on psychosis in childhood. Unique to the literature, this review provides an informative context for the 54 cases. Family histories are presented revealing the increased prevalence in these families of other neuropsychiatric disorders, such as epilepsy and mental retardation. Detailed data are provided on the birth history and early development of the 29 youngest schizophrenic children and compared with the developmental history of 64 normal children. These data are admirably comprehensive, covering every area of functioning, including eating and sleep behavior, motor coordination, and early social and cognitive status. The section highlights developmental concerns important to the assessment and treatment of the schizophrenic child. Cantor's comparison of the schizophrenic and normal children offers suggestive data regarding the roots of vulnerability to mental illness. The physical characteristics associated with childhood schizophrenia are described, and a highly significant correlation is shown to exist between these characteristics and the more commonly recognized signs and symptoms of schizophrenic disease. Above all, the book stresses the importance of early identification. To facilitate accurate diagnosis, many examples of thought disorder in childhood are quoted, and both the physical characteristics and the symptoms scale are provided. -- from Book Jacket.