In contrast to the natural home environment, the hospital is an artificial, new and alien environment for the child.
The hospital deprives the child of the constant presence of the mother and close relatives guaranteeing a sense of security, limits the possibility of satisfying many important developmental needs and running a typical daily activity.
The child in the intensive care unit experiences three basic psychological strains: anxiety, pain and reduced activity.
Strong negative emotions associated with the disease not only burden the psyche, but also adversely affect the treatment process and its further development. Psychosomatic unity manifests itself in a child with particular clarity. Physiological, metabolic disorders caused by anxiety and mental stress in children reach the greatest intensity.
In the disease, the child is exposed to double stress. He suffers mentally and physically. A small patient requires special protection against mental and physical suffering, respecting his or her rights and developmental needs. Neglect in this regard may cause the child to leave the hospital with a cured physical illness, but unfortunately with a mutilated psyche. For some children, the same stay in the hospital may be more severe than the illness and treatment used.
It is particularly difficult to accept a serious illness for teenagers. The independence that is so important for them during this period can not be implemented. On the one hand, they need parents and on the other they want to be alone, which creates a huge conflict in themselves. However, if they have a great need to contact, they often do not want to admit it. The fact that their body may be distorted (for some people after chemotherapy, their hair is worse than pain and physical ailments, they break up, limit their contacts and then suffer terribly from it, they just feel unworthy of the other person). Then the physical contact with the patient is very important and ensuring that he is loved the same way as before. Often it is necessary to explain to the child that he is not guilty of illness.
For school-aged children - if possible - it is very good to ensure contact with peers, organize meetings. We do not hide from the child that he is seriously ill or dying. Therefore, it is not worth lied to him that he will soon be leaving home, although we know that his intensive hospital treatment - if all goes well - will last half a year. A child, when not having heard that he has cancer, from a doctor, parents or psychologist, will learn about it from his peers usually in a less delicate way than we would like.
Doctor of Medicine Janusz Krzyżowski
Psychiatrist
Private office tel. 22 833 18 68
00-774Warszawa, Dolna 4 lok. 15
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