Childhood psychosis in the preschool child.

Six cases of childhood psychosis in children 3 to 5 years of age are summarized in order to alert clinicians to include this clinical entity in the differential diagnosis of children with major developmental difficulties. They represent children treated in a day, nonresidential treatment facility in a suburb of New York City. These cases suggest that we reexamine the prevalent interest in a bipolar distribution of childhood psychosis that focuses on children whose psychosis occurs under 3 and over 5 years of age. Children with psychosis occurring between 3 and 5 are currently described as essentially rare, and are characterized by a path of massive deterioration. Our cases indicate that we should be alert to the phenomenon of young children with psychosis appearing at the preschool age, and in whom the course of illness is in a more positive direction.