Children's Mental Health: Listen Up! Understanding psychosis in children and young people

In this episode of Children's Mental Health: Listen Up!, hosts Dr Elaine Lockhart and Dr Asilay Sekar are joined by Dr Guy Northover, Chair of the Child and Adolescent Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, to explore psychosis in children and young people.

Dr Northover unpacks what psychosis actually is, how it differs from the way the word gets used in everyday speech, and the signs that parents, teachers and carers might notice, and how it affects thoughts and perception. He talks through diagnosis, investigations, and the biopsychosocial approach to treatment, including medication, family therapy and the role of early intervention teams, before busting some of the most persistent myths around psychosis and schizophrenia.

The episode closes with a conversation between Dr Northover and a young person with lived experience of psychosis and bipolar disorder, on what it felt like to become unwell, how treatment helped find stability, and what he’d want other young people going through the same thing to know.