Multi-Complex Developmental Disorder

Children with multi-complex (or multiplex) developmental disorder tend to exhibit autistic symptoms, but also share symptoms very similar to schizophrenia.  These children often show mood disturbance including severe problems regulating emotions/feelings, have anxiety, panic, unusual fears, and emotional fluctuation (e.g., irritability, mood swings) and thought disturbance including irrational thoughts, magical thinking, confusing reality with fantasy, have bizarre illogical ideas, and delusions such as paranoia or fantasies of special powers.  Because of this bizarre presentation, these children are often diagnosed with childhood-onset schizophrenia.  The core distinction is the presence of vivid auditory or visual hallucinations, which is not typically present among those with multiplex developmental disorders.  However, sometimes children with multiplex developmental disorders have such a distortion of reality, their description of events or experiences are often misinterpreted by others as hallucinations.  As this disorder is still under investigation, there is no official diagnostic category as of yet, so individuals are often diagnosed with unspecified pervasive developmental disorder (multiplex).  Its specific cause is unknown, but genetic and neurological factors are strongly suspected.