Mood disorders and psychoses of the adolescent

Disease onset: In adolescents, the different aspects of mood disorders and psychoses are closely related. The first episode of what will become schizophrenia is often suggestive of a mood disorder. The inverse is also true. Frequently, a psychotic state is the inaugural manifestation of a mood disorder. Signs and symptoms: The depressive manifestations observed in adolescents are very similar to negative psychotic symptoms. More so than in adults, the thymic disorder is expressed as severe episodes of psychosis. It would appear that in this case, the psychotic elements are related to the intensity of the thymic disorder. Diagnostic errors: Misdiagnosis is probably related to the fact that mood is not sufficiently taken into account in acute psychotic states. The risk inherent in "over"-diagnosis of schizophrenic disorders is related to the therapeutic implications: prescriptions of neuroleptics can hinder the psychic work involved in the structuralization process going on in the adolescent.