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Psychosis: Watch for sudden poor academic performance

When an adolescent presents with a history of sudden decline in academic performance, be sure to consider serious mental illness.

According to Dr. David Pickar, a psychiatrist and former (retired) director of intramural research at the National Institute of Mental Health, 90%of cases – particularly of schizophrenia – occur between the ages of 16 and 24 years.

“As a scientist, I’ve spent my career thinking about that, but for the primary care doc, if the family comes in and reports that their kid was a good student, and he’s now terrible,” first-episode psychosis should be considered, said Dr. Pickar, who produced a documentary short film describing how to recognize schizophrenia and psychosis. In this video, Dr. Pickar also explains how the use of marijuana also can precipitate psychosis in some people with a genetic predisposition to the illness.

The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel
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When an adolescent presents with a history of sudden decline in academic performance, be sure to consider serious mental illness.

According to Dr. David Pickar, a psychiatrist and former (retired) director of intramural research at the National Institute of Mental Health, 90%of cases – particularly of schizophrenia – occur between the ages of 16 and 24 years.

“As a scientist, I’ve spent my career thinking about that, but for the primary care doc, if the family comes in and reports that their kid was a good student, and he’s now terrible,” first-episode psychosis should be considered, said Dr. Pickar, who produced a documentary short film describing how to recognize schizophrenia and psychosis. In this video, Dr. Pickar also explains how the use of marijuana also can precipitate psychosis in some people with a genetic predisposition to the illness.

The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel

When an adolescent presents with a history of sudden decline in academic performance, be sure to consider serious mental illness.

According to Dr. David Pickar, a psychiatrist and former (retired) director of intramural research at the National Institute of Mental Health, 90%of cases – particularly of schizophrenia – occur between the ages of 16 and 24 years.

“As a scientist, I’ve spent my career thinking about that, but for the primary care doc, if the family comes in and reports that their kid was a good student, and he’s now terrible,” first-episode psychosis should be considered, said Dr. Pickar, who produced a documentary short film describing how to recognize schizophrenia and psychosis. In this video, Dr. Pickar also explains how the use of marijuana also can precipitate psychosis in some people with a genetic predisposition to the illness.

The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel
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