PSYCHOTIC REACTIONS OF CHILDHOOD

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Abstract
Clinical team evaluations are presented of a group of 32 psychotic children who were initially thought to be mentally retarded. Emphasis is placed on consideration of as many aspects of the total picture as possible with diagnosis resulting from a synthesis of the individual pieces of information. Caution is suggested regarding interpretation of incomplete psychological test findings, especially in regard to prognosis. The results of this study offer guidelines for differential diagnosis between psychosis resulting from primary emotional disorders and psychosis superimposed on a chronic brain syndrome in children. This differential has implications for diagnosis and treatment recommendations in each case. Questions are raised about "early infantile autism" as a unitary syndrome on the basis of etiology. The need for a better and more comprehensive diagnostic classification of the psychotic reactions of infancy and early childhood is stressed. This must be developed before valid comparisons of treatment and prognostic considerations can be made among groups of clinicians working in the field.

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