Comorbidity of narcolepsy and schizophrenia in an adolescent patient

A 13-year-old boy suffered from hypersomnia, fragmented nighttime sleep, and cataplexy since age 10 years, and then developed prominent psychotic symptoms (i.e., auditory and visual hallucination, hallucinatory behavior, delusions of reference, and misidentification) that occurred persistently during the wakeful and consciously clear period when he was aged 12 years. The child underwent additional medical evaluation and testing, and comorbidity of narcolepsy and schizophrenia was diagnosed. The child's psychotic symptoms and narcolepsy improved significantly upon treatment with methylphenidate 30 mg, olanzapine 25 mg, and haloperidol 10 mg. In this case, the child's symptomology of narcolepsy and schizophrenia and the dilemma of the use of antipsychotics and psychostimulants are representative examples of the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in adolescent psychiatry.