malibubarbie999

I realize that mental illness doesn't usually come into play until one is in their teens/20s. However, a good friend's 6-year-old daughter has been displaying some very peculiar behavior that seems almost schizophrenic in nature. I was wondering if anyone's heard of this illness afflicting a child?

I should start off by saying the girl's father & older brother suffer from mental illness (Bipolar I Disorder). Her father is serving a 10 year sentence in a state prison for a violent crime. They say these illnesses tend to run in families, but the girl's behavior doesn't seem to fit the description of BD.

One afternoon my friend went to run some errands and left her daughter at home. When she returned about 30 min later she found that her daughter had taped the hands of all of her dolls to their mouths. When she inquired as to why this was done, her daughter said matter-of-factly, "They were telling me to do bad things."

On a few occasions she found her daughter sitting in the back of a closet shouting out what sounded like gibberish (couldn't make out the words). When she'd try to snap her "out of it" she was unsuccessful, as the girl seemed to be in some kind of trance. Later, the girl confided that she had been hearing voices.

This behavior seems to be getting more disturbing with time & the episodes are coming more frequently. My friend has made an appointment with a child psychologist to hopefully get to the bottom of this.

I was wondering if any of you have heard of anything like this. Is it possible for a 6-year-old to have schizophrenia?