Psychotic Disorders in Children and Adolescents

Psychotic disorders are frequently misunderstood and/or misdiagnosed by many clinicians that deal with children, including clinical social workers, mental health counselors, child psychiatrists, and child psychologists. Many times it is difficult for a mental health professional to determine whether the problematic behaviors exhibited (such as hearing voices and seeing things that do not exist) are the result of an altered normal developmental process or the result of a serious mental disorder. Psychotic Disorders in Children and Adolescents will provide mental health professionals and students a resource that contains specific information needed to assess better the exact nature of what is affecting the young patient. The book addresses normal developmental process and cultural influences vs. psychotic disorders; normal grief vs. pathological grief vs. depression; and brief psychotic episodes vs. organic and chronic types of psychosis.