Childhood Abuse and Onset of Psychosis in Early Adulthood

Abstract

One of the issues in psychiatry which is often debated; is whether the stress from having discordant family in childhood can contribute to/precipitate the development of psychosis in adulthood.

We present the case/example of a young female patient whose early life experiences of perceived abuse by parents have culminated into a paranoid disorder /personality and the a possible correlation between these. The patient developed symptoms of paranoid psychosis in early adulthood on the background of significantly unstable/discordant family dynamics and now has started waging a internet warfare against her parents. Psychobiosocial treatments have been making little inroads into her recovery.

This case supports/illustrates the possibility of a relationship between familial discord, with its inherent adverse impact on an individual’s sense of security; and the subsequent vulnerability of the individual to develop psychosis in the face of external stressors/challenges.