For example, schizophrenia typically appears around the 20s, but is rare in childhood. Why is it so rare to see in childhood?
In: Biology
Actually, they more commonly present in adulthood, not at adolescence. There are always exceptions, mind you.
The actual root cause of many psychiatric disorders isn’t completely understood, and potentially there are a number of factors that come into play, but it is very important to know that, contrary to what many people think, the brain is never truly static in terms of development. There are several periods of development where the brain changes/develops significantly, with puberty being a big one, and some things get pretty much ‘set’ at certain points, but there is always a degree of neuroplasticity, just less post-puberty. There are numerous things that can alter a person’s neurological functioning in adulthood, including injuries, illnesses, and substance misuse. All of those can result in symptoms of psychosis and other symptoms superficially similar to schizophrenia.
There are a lot of different conditions, not just psychiatric ones, that are something you are ‘born with’ but don’t develop until later on, and this includes things like certain types of arthritis. What causes these conditions to present at a certain point varies from condition to condition, and can be influenced by environmental factors and normal age-related changes such as hormone levels and even just stress.
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