Kanwar Ajit S. Sidhu, MD

Discuss this article at http://currentpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2010/10/hallucinations-in-children-diagnostic.html#comments

Hallucinations in children are of grave concern to parents and clinicians, but aren’t necessarily a symptom of mental illness. In adults, hallucinations usually are linked to serious psychopathology; however, in children they are not uncommon and may be part of normal development (Box).

A hallucination is a false auditory, visual, gustatory, tactile, or olfactory perception not associated with real external stimuli.¹ It must be differentiated from similar phenomenon such as illusions (misperception of actual stimuli), elaborate fantasies, imaginary companions, and eidetic images (visual images stored in memory).

Box

Common, yet a cause for concern

Epidemiologic studies show 2.8% of adults report hallucinations before age 21.² Nonpsychotic children as young as age 5 have reported hallucinations.³ Hallucinatory phenomenon may be present in 8% to 21% of all 11-year-old children; two-thirds of these patients have no DSM-IV-TR diagnosis.^4,5 However, 1 evaluation of 62 nonpsychotic hallucinating children treated in a psychiatric emergency department (ED):

• 34% had depression
• 22% had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• 21% had disruptive behavior disorders
• 23% had other diagnoses.⁶

Studies suggest that children who have hallucinations but no other psychotic symptoms have a better long-term prognosis than those with additional psychotic symptoms.⁷ A 17-year longitudinal study of children with hallucinations and concurrent emotional and conduct problems found:

• up to 50% of patients still experience hallucinations at age 30
• hallucinations did not significantly predict clinical outcome at age 30
• childhood hallucinations did not increase the risk for psychosis, depression, organic brain disorder, or other psychiatric illnesses.⁷

In a study of children with psychosis and disruptive disorders, at 2- to 8-years follow-up 50% met criteria for major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizophreniform disorders.⁸ In a 15-year longitudinal study of 11-year-olds, self-reported psychotic symptoms—such as delusional beliefs and hallucinatory experiences—predicted a high risk of schizophreniform disorder at age 26.⁹ These studies suggest that experiencing significant disruptions in thoughts and perceptions during childhood may be related to later development of prominent mood and thought disorders.

Differential diagnosis

Table 1 lists possible causes of hallucination in children.^6,10-13 Hallucinations during childhood can occur in the context of several psychiatric disorders, including:

• schizophrenia
• schizophreniform disorders
• mood disorders with psychotic features (Table 2).¹⁴

They can also manifest as comorbid or associated symptoms of disorders not commonly associated with hallucinations, such as ADHD, disruptive disorders, anxiety disorders, and prodromal clinical states. Medications, substance use, and organic and metabolic disorders also must be considered in the differential diagnosis (Table 3).

Hallucinations may occur in low-functioning or anxious children, in the context of psychosocial adversity or abuse, and during bereavement of a deceased parent when the surviving parent is emotionally unavailable.^11-13,15-17 Rule out hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, which are predominantly visual hallucinations that occur immediately before falling asleep and during the transition from sleep to wakefulness, respectively.¹⁸ Rarely, a child who has had hallucinations for some time may learn to complain of them when he or she is not hallucinating in order to obtain a primary or secondary gain, such as getting attention from caregivers.

Little is known about psychosis and hallucinations in preschoolers (age ≤5); therefore, their language use may help assessment. Because of cognitive immaturity, children often use illogical thinking and loose association and may describe their thoughts as “voices.” This is common in children with language disorders—and sometimes in healthy patients—who may talk about voices because they cannot describe their own thoughts.

Children with ADHD and/or oppositional defiant disorder often are impulsive and show poor judgment and may blame voices for telling them to do bad things. These “hallucinations” may represent internal thoughts battling with the child’s conscience.⁶ Auditory and visual hallucinations have been reported in children with Tourette syndrome, especially when associated with ADHD or obsessive-compulsive disorder.¹⁹

Medical causes. Electrolyte disturbances, metabolic disorders, fever, and serious infections are common nonpsychiatric causes of hallucinations.²⁰ Brain neoplasm—particularly in visual association areas, the temporal lobe, or portions of the optic nerve or retina—also may produce hallucinations, which can be complex with full images.²¹

Medications such as steroids and anticholinergics may cause hallucinations. Case studies report visual and tactile hallucinations with methylphenidate therapy that resolve after discontinuing the medication.²² Illicit substances, including cannabis, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), cocaine, amphetamines, 3,4-methylenedioxymeth-amphetamine (ecstasy), opiates, and barbiturates, can induce hallucinations.

Suspect substance-induced hallucinations if your patient shows:

• acute onset of hallucinations
• dilated pupils
• extreme agitation or drowsiness
• other signs of intoxication.

Hallucinations caused by seizure disorders are rare but can be somatosensory, visual (occipital lobe focus), auditory, olfactory (uncinate, complex partial), or gustatory. The hallucinations may be unformed (flashing lights or rushing noises) or formed (images, spoken words, or music) and could be part of the aura arising from the temporal lobe (dreamlike, flashbacks). Command hallucinations are rare and adult and pediatric patients usually sense they are not real.²³

Migraines occur in approximately 5% of prepubertal children and often are comorbid with affective and anxiety disorders.²⁴ Hallucinations associated with migraine commonly are visual, but gustatory, olfactory, and auditory hallucinations also can occur, with or without headaches.³ Any hallucination associated with headaches should be investigated neurologically. Other diagnostic aspects of hallucinations to consider while interviewing children are listed in Table 4.^25-28

Table 1

Possible causes of hallucinations in children and adolescents

Table 2

Content of hallucinations may point to their cause

Table 3

Hallucinations in young patients: Differential diagnoses

Table 4

Diagnostic considerations when assessing a hallucinating child

Psychotic disorder not otherwise specified

(NOS) in children often is overused and misused. One reason could be that DSM-IV-TR does not have a category for hallucinations in nonpsychotic children or for children who are at risk for psychosis. However, recommendations regarding the diagnosis of psychotic disorder NOS note it:

• may be used if uncertainty persists after ruling out all other diagnoses
• should be avoided when hallucinations occur in nonpsychotic children
• should not be used longitudinally if a clinician later determines a specific disorder accounts for the hallucinations.²⁹

Treatment

Addressing underlying medical or psychiatric illness, including substance use, is primary. Some adolescents or children may think that cannabis use is relatively benign. Discuss the risks of cannabis use in an age-appropriate manner.

In the ED. Children or adolescents who present with hallucinations in the ED should undergo a thorough evaluation that explores the differential diagnoses. Suggestions for evaluating patients in this setting appear in Table 5.²¹

Prodromal or at-risk children. There is no consensus on how early to initiate treatment for children in the prodromal stages of psychosis. Early identification and treatment is imperative because duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is a primary predictor of treatment response in first-admission patients, and longer DUP corresponds to poorer prognosis in children.³⁰

Assessment scales for early identification of psychosis have limitations because most are not standardized for use in children age <14. To assess symptoms and predict future psychosis in children consider using:

• Scale of Prodromal Symptoms
• Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms
• Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States
• Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms.

A hallucinating child may be considered prodromal if he or she has:

• 30% drop in Global Assessment Functioning score in the past month
• a first-degree relative with affective or nonaffective psychotic disorder or schizotypal personality disorder.³¹

Antipsychotics. When treating children, use antipsychotics with caution and consider short- and long-term risks and benefits. Early treatment is indicated when hallucinations are among a patient’s psychotic symptoms; however, antipsychotic use for children in the prodromal phase lacks consensus. McGlashan et al³² showed that in 60 high-risk patients (mean age 16), olanzapine, 5 to 15 mg/d, reduced conversion to psychosis by 50% over 6 months. McGorry et al³³ observed that in 59 ultra-high risk patients (mean age 20), adding low-dose risperidone (1 to 2 mg/d) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was superior to case management and supportive psychotherapy in preventing psychosis after 6 months of treatment, but this difference was not maintained at 6 months of follow-up.

CBT slows progression to psychosis in ultra-high risk patients and reduces positive symptoms more specifically than it improves emotional dysfunction.³⁴ CBT for psychosis is based on the concept that auditory hallucinations have an underlying personalized meaning or cognitive schema.³⁵ The initial goal of treatment is to engage the child and understand:

• What do the hallucinations mean to the patient?
• How did they start?
• Can the child start or stop them?
• What does the patient think they are?

The clinician then strives to help the child identify alternative explanations for these hallucinations and develop coping strategies.³⁶ “Normalizing” the voices helps the child attribute these voices to a less anxiety-provoking cause.³⁷ Consider suggesting common reasons for the hallucinations, such as:

• lack of sleep
• isolation
• dehydration
• extreme stress
• strong thoughts (obsessions)
• fever and illness
• lack of food
• drugs and alcohol.

If your patient learns that any of these reasons could explain the hallucinations, he or she may start to have a less delusional understanding of them. Suggest that the voices are “real” only if your patient believes it.

Help children develop coping strategies to control auditory hallucinations such as:

• humming
• listening to music
• reading (forwards and backwards)
• talking to others
• exercising
• singing
• medication
• ignoring the voices.

With normalization and other coping strategies, children with visual hallucinations can learn to transform in their mind the frightful image to a funnier one, which is less anxiety-provoking and gives them a sense of control.

Table 5

Suggestions for evaluating hallucinating children in the ED

Related Resources

• Bartels-Velthuis AA, Jenner JA, van de Willige G, et al. Prevalence and correlates of auditory vocal hallucinations in middle childhood. Br J Psychiatry. 2010;196(1):41-46.
• Cepeda C. Psychotic symptoms in children and adolescents: assessment, differential diagnosis, and treatment. New York, NY: Routledge; 2007.

Drug Brand Names

• Methylphenidate • Ritalin
• Olanzapine • Zyprexa
• Risperidone • Risperdal

Disclosure

The authors report no financial relationship with any company whose products are mentioned in this article or with manufacturers of competing products.

Discuss this article at http://currentpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2010/10/hallucinations-in-children-diagnostic.html#comments

Hallucinations in children are of grave concern to parents and clinicians, but aren’t necessarily a symptom of mental illness. In adults, hallucinations usually are linked to serious psychopathology; however, in children they are not uncommon and may be part of normal development (Box).

A hallucination is a false auditory, visual, gustatory, tactile, or olfactory perception not associated with real external stimuli.¹ It must be differentiated from similar phenomenon such as illusions (misperception of actual stimuli), elaborate fantasies, imaginary companions, and eidetic images (visual images stored in memory).

Box

Common, yet a cause for concern

Epidemiologic studies show 2.8% of adults report hallucinations before age 21.² Nonpsychotic children as young as age 5 have reported hallucinations.³ Hallucinatory phenomenon may be present in 8% to 21% of all 11-year-old children; two-thirds of these patients have no DSM-IV-TR diagnosis.^4,5 However, 1 evaluation of 62 nonpsychotic hallucinating children treated in a psychiatric emergency department (ED):

• 34% had depression
• 22% had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• 21% had disruptive behavior disorders
• 23% had other diagnoses.⁶

Studies suggest that children who have hallucinations but no other psychotic symptoms have a better long-term prognosis than those with additional psychotic symptoms.⁷ A 17-year longitudinal study of children with hallucinations and concurrent emotional and conduct problems found:

• up to 50% of patients still experience hallucinations at age 30
• hallucinations did not significantly predict clinical outcome at age 30
• childhood hallucinations did not increase the risk for psychosis, depression, organic brain disorder, or other psychiatric illnesses.⁷

In a study of children with psychosis and disruptive disorders, at 2- to 8-years follow-up 50% met criteria for major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizophreniform disorders.⁸ In a 15-year longitudinal study of 11-year-olds, self-reported psychotic symptoms—such as delusional beliefs and hallucinatory experiences—predicted a high risk of schizophreniform disorder at age 26.⁹ These studies suggest that experiencing significant disruptions in thoughts and perceptions during childhood may be related to later development of prominent mood and thought disorders.

Differential diagnosis

Table 1 lists possible causes of hallucination in children.^6,10-13 Hallucinations during childhood can occur in the context of several psychiatric disorders, including:

• schizophrenia
• schizophreniform disorders
• mood disorders with psychotic features (Table 2).¹⁴

They can also manifest as comorbid or associated symptoms of disorders not commonly associated with hallucinations, such as ADHD, disruptive disorders, anxiety disorders, and prodromal clinical states. Medications, substance use, and organic and metabolic disorders also must be considered in the differential diagnosis (Table 3).

Hallucinations may occur in low-functioning or anxious children, in the context of psychosocial adversity or abuse, and during bereavement of a deceased parent when the surviving parent is emotionally unavailable.^11-13,15-17 Rule out hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, which are predominantly visual hallucinations that occur immediately before falling asleep and during the transition from sleep to wakefulness, respectively.¹⁸ Rarely, a child who has had hallucinations for some time may learn to complain of them when he or she is not hallucinating in order to obtain a primary or secondary gain, such as getting attention from caregivers.

Little is known about psychosis and hallucinations in preschoolers (age ≤5); therefore, their language use may help assessment. Because of cognitive immaturity, children often use illogical thinking and loose association and may describe their thoughts as “voices.” This is common in children with language disorders—and sometimes in healthy patients—who may talk about voices because they cannot describe their own thoughts.

Children with ADHD and/or oppositional defiant disorder often are impulsive and show poor judgment and may blame voices for telling them to do bad things. These “hallucinations” may represent internal thoughts battling with the child’s conscience.⁶ Auditory and visual hallucinations have been reported in children with Tourette syndrome, especially when associated with ADHD or obsessive-compulsive disorder.¹⁹

Medical causes. Electrolyte disturbances, metabolic disorders, fever, and serious infections are common nonpsychiatric causes of hallucinations.²⁰ Brain neoplasm—particularly in visual association areas, the temporal lobe, or portions of the optic nerve or retina—also may produce hallucinations, which can be complex with full images.²¹

Medications such as steroids and anticholinergics may cause hallucinations. Case studies report visual and tactile hallucinations with methylphenidate therapy that resolve after discontinuing the medication.²² Illicit substances, including cannabis, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), cocaine, amphetamines, 3,4-methylenedioxymeth-amphetamine (ecstasy), opiates, and barbiturates, can induce hallucinations.

Suspect substance-induced hallucinations if your patient shows:

• acute onset of hallucinations
• dilated pupils
• extreme agitation or drowsiness
• other signs of intoxication.

Hallucinations caused by seizure disorders are rare but can be somatosensory, visual (occipital lobe focus), auditory, olfactory (uncinate, complex partial), or gustatory. The hallucinations may be unformed (flashing lights or rushing noises) or formed (images, spoken words, or music) and could be part of the aura arising from the temporal lobe (dreamlike, flashbacks). Command hallucinations are rare and adult and pediatric patients usually sense they are not real.²³

Migraines occur in approximately 5% of prepubertal children and often are comorbid with affective and anxiety disorders.²⁴ Hallucinations associated with migraine commonly are visual, but gustatory, olfactory, and auditory hallucinations also can occur, with or without headaches.³ Any hallucination associated with headaches should be investigated neurologically. Other diagnostic aspects of hallucinations to consider while interviewing children are listed in Table 4.^25-28

Table 1

Possible causes of hallucinations in children and adolescents

Table 2

Content of hallucinations may point to their cause

Table 3

Hallucinations in young patients: Differential diagnoses

Table 4

Diagnostic considerations when assessing a hallucinating child

Psychotic disorder not otherwise specified

(NOS) in children often is overused and misused. One reason could be that DSM-IV-TR does not have a category for hallucinations in nonpsychotic children or for children who are at risk for psychosis. However, recommendations regarding the diagnosis of psychotic disorder NOS note it:

• may be used if uncertainty persists after ruling out all other diagnoses
• should be avoided when hallucinations occur in nonpsychotic children
• should not be used longitudinally if a clinician later determines a specific disorder accounts for the hallucinations.²⁹

Treatment

Addressing underlying medical or psychiatric illness, including substance use, is primary. Some adolescents or children may think that cannabis use is relatively benign. Discuss the risks of cannabis use in an age-appropriate manner.

In the ED. Children or adolescents who present with hallucinations in the ED should undergo a thorough evaluation that explores the differential diagnoses. Suggestions for evaluating patients in this setting appear in Table 5.²¹

Prodromal or at-risk children. There is no consensus on how early to initiate treatment for children in the prodromal stages of psychosis. Early identification and treatment is imperative because duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is a primary predictor of treatment response in first-admission patients, and longer DUP corresponds to poorer prognosis in children.³⁰

Assessment scales for early identification of psychosis have limitations because most are not standardized for use in children age <14. To assess symptoms and predict future psychosis in children consider using:

• Scale of Prodromal Symptoms
• Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms
• Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States
• Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms.

A hallucinating child may be considered prodromal if he or she has:

• 30% drop in Global Assessment Functioning score in the past month
• a first-degree relative with affective or nonaffective psychotic disorder or schizotypal personality disorder.³¹

Antipsychotics. When treating children, use antipsychotics with caution and consider short- and long-term risks and benefits. Early treatment is indicated when hallucinations are among a patient’s psychotic symptoms; however, antipsychotic use for children in the prodromal phase lacks consensus. McGlashan et al³² showed that in 60 high-risk patients (mean age 16), olanzapine, 5 to 15 mg/d, reduced conversion to psychosis by 50% over 6 months. McGorry et al³³ observed that in 59 ultra-high risk patients (mean age 20), adding low-dose risperidone (1 to 2 mg/d) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was superior to case management and supportive psychotherapy in preventing psychosis after 6 months of treatment, but this difference was not maintained at 6 months of follow-up.

CBT slows progression to psychosis in ultra-high risk patients and reduces positive symptoms more specifically than it improves emotional dysfunction.³⁴ CBT for psychosis is based on the concept that auditory hallucinations have an underlying personalized meaning or cognitive schema.³⁵ The initial goal of treatment is to engage the child and understand:

• What do the hallucinations mean to the patient?
• How did they start?
• Can the child start or stop them?
• What does the patient think they are?

The clinician then strives to help the child identify alternative explanations for these hallucinations and develop coping strategies.³⁶ “Normalizing” the voices helps the child attribute these voices to a less anxiety-provoking cause.³⁷ Consider suggesting common reasons for the hallucinations, such as:

• lack of sleep
• isolation
• dehydration
• extreme stress
• strong thoughts (obsessions)
• fever and illness
• lack of food
• drugs and alcohol.

If your patient learns that any of these reasons could explain the hallucinations, he or she may start to have a less delusional understanding of them. Suggest that the voices are “real” only if your patient believes it.

Help children develop coping strategies to control auditory hallucinations such as:

• humming
• listening to music
• reading (forwards and backwards)
• talking to others
• exercising
• singing
• medication
• ignoring the voices.

With normalization and other coping strategies, children with visual hallucinations can learn to transform in their mind the frightful image to a funnier one, which is less anxiety-provoking and gives them a sense of control.

Table 5

Suggestions for evaluating hallucinating children in the ED

Related Resources

• Bartels-Velthuis AA, Jenner JA, van de Willige G, et al. Prevalence and correlates of auditory vocal hallucinations in middle childhood. Br J Psychiatry. 2010;196(1):41-46.
• Cepeda C. Psychotic symptoms in children and adolescents: assessment, differential diagnosis, and treatment. New York, NY: Routledge; 2007.

Drug Brand Names

• Methylphenidate • Ritalin
• Olanzapine • Zyprexa
• Risperidone • Risperdal

Disclosure

The authors report no financial relationship with any company whose products are mentioned in this article or with manufacturers of competing products.

Discuss this article at http://currentpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2010/10/hallucinations-in-children-diagnostic.html#comments

Hallucinations in children are of grave concern to parents and clinicians, but aren’t necessarily a symptom of mental illness. In adults, hallucinations usually are linked to serious psychopathology; however, in children they are not uncommon and may be part of normal development (Box).

A hallucination is a false auditory, visual, gustatory, tactile, or olfactory perception not associated with real external stimuli.¹ It must be differentiated from similar phenomenon such as illusions (misperception of actual stimuli), elaborate fantasies, imaginary companions, and eidetic images (visual images stored in memory).

Box

Common, yet a cause for concern

Epidemiologic studies show 2.8% of adults report hallucinations before age 21.² Nonpsychotic children as young as age 5 have reported hallucinations.³ Hallucinatory phenomenon may be present in 8% to 21% of all 11-year-old children; two-thirds of these patients have no DSM-IV-TR diagnosis.^4,5 However, 1 evaluation of 62 nonpsychotic hallucinating children treated in a psychiatric emergency department (ED):

• 34% had depression
• 22% had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• 21% had disruptive behavior disorders
• 23% had other diagnoses.⁶

Studies suggest that children who have hallucinations but no other psychotic symptoms have a better long-term prognosis than those with additional psychotic symptoms.⁷ A 17-year longitudinal study of children with hallucinations and concurrent emotional and conduct problems found:

• up to 50% of patients still experience hallucinations at age 30
• hallucinations did not significantly predict clinical outcome at age 30
• childhood hallucinations did not increase the risk for psychosis, depression, organic brain disorder, or other psychiatric illnesses.⁷

In a study of children with psychosis and disruptive disorders, at 2- to 8-years follow-up 50% met criteria for major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizophreniform disorders.⁸ In a 15-year longitudinal study of 11-year-olds, self-reported psychotic symptoms—such as delusional beliefs and hallucinatory experiences—predicted a high risk of schizophreniform disorder at age 26.⁹ These studies suggest that experiencing significant disruptions in thoughts and perceptions during childhood may be related to later development of prominent mood and thought disorders.

Differential diagnosis

Table 1 lists possible causes of hallucination in children.^6,10-13 Hallucinations during childhood can occur in the context of several psychiatric disorders, including:

• schizophrenia
• schizophreniform disorders
• mood disorders with psychotic features (Table 2).¹⁴

They can also manifest as comorbid or associated symptoms of disorders not commonly associated with hallucinations, such as ADHD, disruptive disorders, anxiety disorders, and prodromal clinical states. Medications, substance use, and organic and metabolic disorders also must be considered in the differential diagnosis (Table 3).

Hallucinations may occur in low-functioning or anxious children, in the context of psychosocial adversity or abuse, and during bereavement of a deceased parent when the surviving parent is emotionally unavailable.^11-13,15-17 Rule out hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, which are predominantly visual hallucinations that occur immediately before falling asleep and during the transition from sleep to wakefulness, respectively.¹⁸ Rarely, a child who has had hallucinations for some time may learn to complain of them when he or she is not hallucinating in order to obtain a primary or secondary gain, such as getting attention from caregivers.

Little is known about psychosis and hallucinations in preschoolers (age ≤5); therefore, their language use may help assessment. Because of cognitive immaturity, children often use illogical thinking and loose association and may describe their thoughts as “voices.” This is common in children with language disorders—and sometimes in healthy patients—who may talk about voices because they cannot describe their own thoughts.

Children with ADHD and/or oppositional defiant disorder often are impulsive and show poor judgment and may blame voices for telling them to do bad things. These “hallucinations” may represent internal thoughts battling with the child’s conscience.⁶ Auditory and visual hallucinations have been reported in children with Tourette syndrome, especially when associated with ADHD or obsessive-compulsive disorder.¹⁹

Medical causes. Electrolyte disturbances, metabolic disorders, fever, and serious infections are common nonpsychiatric causes of hallucinations.²⁰ Brain neoplasm—particularly in visual association areas, the temporal lobe, or portions of the optic nerve or retina—also may produce hallucinations, which can be complex with full images.²¹

Medications such as steroids and anticholinergics may cause hallucinations. Case studies report visual and tactile hallucinations with methylphenidate therapy that resolve after discontinuing the medication.²² Illicit substances, including cannabis, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), cocaine, amphetamines, 3,4-methylenedioxymeth-amphetamine (ecstasy), opiates, and barbiturates, can induce hallucinations.

Suspect substance-induced hallucinations if your patient shows:

• acute onset of hallucinations
• dilated pupils
• extreme agitation or drowsiness
• other signs of intoxication.

Hallucinations caused by seizure disorders are rare but can be somatosensory, visual (occipital lobe focus), auditory, olfactory (uncinate, complex partial), or gustatory. The hallucinations may be unformed (flashing lights or rushing noises) or formed (images, spoken words, or music) and could be part of the aura arising from the temporal lobe (dreamlike, flashbacks). Command hallucinations are rare and adult and pediatric patients usually sense they are not real.²³

Migraines occur in approximately 5% of prepubertal children and often are comorbid with affective and anxiety disorders.²⁴ Hallucinations associated with migraine commonly are visual, but gustatory, olfactory, and auditory hallucinations also can occur, with or without headaches.³ Any hallucination associated with headaches should be investigated neurologically. Other diagnostic aspects of hallucinations to consider while interviewing children are listed in Table 4.^25-28

Table 1

Possible causes of hallucinations in children and adolescents

Table 2

Content of hallucinations may point to their cause

Table 3

Hallucinations in young patients: Differential diagnoses

Table 4

Diagnostic considerations when assessing a hallucinating child

Psychotic disorder not otherwise specified

(NOS) in children often is overused and misused. One reason could be that DSM-IV-TR does not have a category for hallucinations in nonpsychotic children or for children who are at risk for psychosis. However, recommendations regarding the diagnosis of psychotic disorder NOS note it:

• may be used if uncertainty persists after ruling out all other diagnoses
• should be avoided when hallucinations occur in nonpsychotic children
• should not be used longitudinally if a clinician later determines a specific disorder accounts for the hallucinations.²⁹

Treatment

Addressing underlying medical or psychiatric illness, including substance use, is primary. Some adolescents or children may think that cannabis use is relatively benign. Discuss the risks of cannabis use in an age-appropriate manner.

In the ED. Children or adolescents who present with hallucinations in the ED should undergo a thorough evaluation that explores the differential diagnoses. Suggestions for evaluating patients in this setting appear in Table 5.²¹

Prodromal or at-risk children. There is no consensus on how early to initiate treatment for children in the prodromal stages of psychosis. Early identification and treatment is imperative because duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is a primary predictor of treatment response in first-admission patients, and longer DUP corresponds to poorer prognosis in children.³⁰

Assessment scales for early identification of psychosis have limitations because most are not standardized for use in children age <14. To assess symptoms and predict future psychosis in children consider using:

• Scale of Prodromal Symptoms
• Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms
• Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States
• Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms.

A hallucinating child may be considered prodromal if he or she has:

• 30% drop in Global Assessment Functioning score in the past month
• a first-degree relative with affective or nonaffective psychotic disorder or schizotypal personality disorder.³¹

Antipsychotics. When treating children, use antipsychotics with caution and consider short- and long-term risks and benefits. Early treatment is indicated when hallucinations are among a patient’s psychotic symptoms; however, antipsychotic use for children in the prodromal phase lacks consensus. McGlashan et al³² showed that in 60 high-risk patients (mean age 16), olanzapine, 5 to 15 mg/d, reduced conversion to psychosis by 50% over 6 months. McGorry et al³³ observed that in 59 ultra-high risk patients (mean age 20), adding low-dose risperidone (1 to 2 mg/d) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was superior to case management and supportive psychotherapy in preventing psychosis after 6 months of treatment, but this difference was not maintained at 6 months of follow-up.

CBT slows progression to psychosis in ultra-high risk patients and reduces positive symptoms more specifically than it improves emotional dysfunction.³⁴ CBT for psychosis is based on the concept that auditory hallucinations have an underlying personalized meaning or cognitive schema.³⁵ The initial goal of treatment is to engage the child and understand:

• What do the hallucinations mean to the patient?
• How did they start?
• Can the child start or stop them?
• What does the patient think they are?

The clinician then strives to help the child identify alternative explanations for these hallucinations and develop coping strategies.³⁶ “Normalizing” the voices helps the child attribute these voices to a less anxiety-provoking cause.³⁷ Consider suggesting common reasons for the hallucinations, such as:

• lack of sleep
• isolation
• dehydration
• extreme stress
• strong thoughts (obsessions)
• fever and illness
• lack of food
• drugs and alcohol.

If your patient learns that any of these reasons could explain the hallucinations, he or she may start to have a less delusional understanding of them. Suggest that the voices are “real” only if your patient believes it.

Help children develop coping strategies to control auditory hallucinations such as:

• humming
• listening to music
• reading (forwards and backwards)
• talking to others
• exercising
• singing
• medication
• ignoring the voices.

With normalization and other coping strategies, children with visual hallucinations can learn to transform in their mind the frightful image to a funnier one, which is less anxiety-provoking and gives them a sense of control.

Table 5

Suggestions for evaluating hallucinating children in the ED

Related Resources

• Bartels-Velthuis AA, Jenner JA, van de Willige G, et al. Prevalence and correlates of auditory vocal hallucinations in middle childhood. Br J Psychiatry. 2010;196(1):41-46.
• Cepeda C. Psychotic symptoms in children and adolescents: assessment, differential diagnosis, and treatment. New York, NY: Routledge; 2007.

Drug Brand Names

• Methylphenidate • Ritalin
• Olanzapine • Zyprexa
• Risperidone • Risperdal

Disclosure

The authors report no financial relationship with any company whose products are mentioned in this article or with manufacturers of competing products.