Keeping Jani Alive: The Perils Of Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia

Hallucinations Can Be Frightening

But these hallucinations are not always a comforting retreat from reality.

"Often it's a very disturbing world," DeAntonio said. "People die, people are evil, they [can] make a person do bad things."

For children with schizophrenia, hallucinations are less torturous than they might be to someone who develops the disorder in adolescence because they have a neurotypical frame of reference. A child may simply think it's normal to hear voices and that it happens to everyone. Jani's first imaginary friend appeared when she was 2 and ½ years old. Soon there were hundreds.

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But while the hallucinations may seem normal, they still come from frightening places, which can cause someone with schizophrenia to lash out, becoming irrational paranoid and violent.

Schofield said it became apparent that Jani was not controlling these creatures herself, but that she was at their mercy.

"One minute she would be really sweet and loving and all of sudden she'd just turn. Literally it was like the Exorcist -- she would become another person. Her eyes would change, her demeanor changed, her voice flattened out," Schofield said. "Her imaginary friends are not imaginary at all but command hallucinations. They tell her to hurt herself or someone else."

Getting Help for Schizophrenia

Schofield and his wife also had a difficult time getting help for Jani because of the stigma that aggressive behavior in a child indicates that the parents are at fault due to abuse or neglect.

Though schizophrenia has a strong genetic component, some triggers can precipitate the disorder. In children, these triggers can be a history of brain trauma, having a seizure disorder or being premature. Alcohol or drug use during pregnancy can also increase the risk for brain damage.

Controling schizophrenic hallucinations and other symptoms requires strong drugs that have side effects including weight gain, diabetes, and hypertension.

Jani's current regimen is Tegretol, an anti-seizure drug that is also a mood stabilizer, Thorazine, the only anti-psychotic that has worked for her, and lithium, which helps the effects of the Thorazine.