Hallucinations in a non-psychotic child: case report

Abstract

Hallucinations are relatively common in childhood, and occur most frequently in the context of normal development or in children with non-psychotic disorders than in psychotic ones. We report the case of a seven-years-old child attended in the emergency room because of somatic complaints and visual and auditory hallucinations spanning seven days, accompanied by significant anxiety. These symptoms are close in time to an intervention for cancer of the boy’s grandmother. Complementary examinations ruled out a medical condition that could justify the medical profile. A few days after, the hallucinations and somatic complaints subsided, although there were nightmares and fears which resolved within two months. The diagnosis was acute adjustment disorder with prevalence of anxiety following DSM-IV-TR criteria. Psychotherapeutic support, assistance and protection of the child were considered as the most important factors in the case management. In the presence of hallucinations in children is necessary to evaluate the full medical profile in order to give appropriate treatment, as hallucinatory phenomena have been described in children in relation to various diseases.