Psychosis rates climb among young people in Ontario, researchers find

People aged 14 to 20 are more often being diagnosed with psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia, compared with those born earlier, a large Ontario study examining 30 years of data suggests.

To conduct the study, published in Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), researchers looked at health administrative data from more than 12 million Ontario residents born between 1960 and 2009 to look for cases of a psychotic disorder.

Residents had to reach age 14 to be diagnosed and eligible for the analysis. Looking at the 30-year study period, researchers found more than 152,000 diagnoses of psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia — with the annual rate increasing by 60 per cent for those aged 14 to 20, but staying flat or declining for people aged 21 to 50.

Schizophrenia is a lifelong condition where people can experience hallucinations and delusions, or fixed beliefs that are not based in reality, typically requiring years of treatment. About one per cent of people in Canada are living with schizophrenia, based on federal data from 2016 to 2017.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/psychosis-schizophrenia-age-cmaj-9.7070924