1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky
This paper attempts to resolve some of the prevailing confusion about psychosis in childhood by defining it as a heterogeneous group of clinical syndromes which share certain key symptoms. A crucial distinction is made between pathognomonic symptoms and those which are not pathognomonic but which may dominate the symptom-picture when present. Within this framework, differential diagnostic observations are made concerning (1) mental retardation, (2) the behavior syndrome of minimal brain damage, (3) various conditions with delayed or absent speech, (4) other conditions with hyperactivity and impulsivity, and (5) other conditions with odd or deviant behavior. A comparison is made among differing current formulations of the psychopathology and the etiology of childhood psychosis.
Submitted on February 23, 1970