A massive Canadian study tracking more than 12 million people in Ontario found that diagnoses of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders among 14 to 20-year-olds have risen about 60 percent since the late 1990s. Rates climbed from roughly 63 to nearly 100 cases per 100,000 teens. Diagnoses among adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s stayed flat or declined.
While the researchers aren’t quite sure why this is happening, they do know that the numbers indicate that whatever it is appears to be hitting younger generations especially hard. This is according to the findings published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Each cohort born after the late 1970s showed a higher risk of psychosis at younger ages. By 20, about one in 180 people born in the early 2000s had been diagnosed—more than double the rate for people born in the late ’70s at the same age. Symptoms are also appearing earlier: the average age of diagnosis has slid from about 25 to 23.
Why Psychosis Diagnoses Are Increasing in Teens, According to Experts
Psychosis involves hallucinations, delusions, and breaks from reality, all of which are often permanent. This is a lifelong condition with huge personal and social costs. One reason the numbers are rising could be better detection methods.
Ontario dramatically expanded early psychosis clinics, making it easier to catch cases sooner. But better screening doesn’t fully explain why more teens and adults are being diagnosed in the first place. The increase remains even after accounting for healthcare access.
That leaves the uncomfortable question of why? Theories are all they’ve got. Teen cannabis use has been rising, and today’s weed is significantly higher in THC than it used to be, which could be damaging kids’ developing brains. That’s just one of many factors that may be at play.
It is also older parent age, chronic stress, air pollution, and potentially, the survival of infants who, thanks to medical advancements, would have died of medical vulnerabilities long ago. The researchers suspect that none of these alone explains the rise, but perhaps some combination of them all.
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