Troubled Teens Help

A troubled teenager suffering from Schizophrenia has a lot more to handle than just the ordinary teen. And mind you, an ‘ordinary’ teen has enough on his hands already without a mental disorder which can be seriously taxing on his spirit to worry about.

At the beginning, the characteristics of the disorder may not be particularly apparent to others. But as time progresses, usually the teenager’s friends or school advisers may notice changes in your child that are actually signs of the disorder’s development.

With the erratic behaviors noticeable in schizophrenic patients, it may initially be difficult to discern a rowdy teen’s actions from a schizophrenic teen. It is interesting to note that the disorder affects both males and females equally.

Now you may be thinking, what exactly is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a disorder which affects how a teenager may differentiate between reality and unrealism. It particularly affects the way a teenager interacts with his/her peers and his/her logical cognition in a negative manner. A schizophrenic teen may have problems with his/her memory as well.

Characteristics of the disorder have been observed in males earlier than females.

But in general, schizophrenia has been studied to appear during the teenage years up to the start of adulthood. Before a patient may be diagnosed with the disorder, normally a teenager’s social relationships may take a nosedive. He/she may experience difficulty with his/her peers and resort to isolation. These symptoms are actually troubled teenage issues on their own, and therefore may be hard to sight as actual symptoms of a bigger issue or disorder. 

There may be a number of ideas which attempt to explain the cause of schizophrenia, but at present these ideas remain to be theories. Some theories express that birth abnormalities of the brain present themselves with certain conditions that surround the teenager during the latter part of adolescence. Another theory mentions that a patient may have a tendency towards the disorder passed down through the family line, yet this tendency would only develop into a full-blown disorder with the presence of certain physical (to the head) or psychological stressors. Further theories on the disorder circle around chemicals of the brain such as glutamate, dopamine, and serotonin.

Studies have shown that once a member of the family is diagnosed with schizophrenia, a teenager’s chances of acquiring the disorder are raised by 30 percent. If a teen’s parents are both suffering from the disorder, then this percentage may become 40 percent.