03/05/2018 – Constanta URZEALA

Résumé de la conférence

The emotional challenges of a child with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) originates in the specific medical treatment that has a severe impact on his activities and lifestyle. He is constrained to accept daily a great number of injections for measuring the blood glucose level (8-10 times a day) and for the insulin therapy (4-5 times a day). The T1DM child follows a strict schedule for the meals, physical effort program, rest and injections treatment hours, his/her activities being interrupted anytime, depending on the glicaemia oscillations. At the same time, the age at which the child must cope with the challenge of this metabolic disease and understand the restrictions of his treatment, may create social interaction difficulties. The emotional load of everyday situations is increased, as every moment of the day can get for him another signification than for his peers. Often, the relationships with the reference adults are charged with concern, hyper-protection, dependency, culpability, which exert an additional emotional pressure on the T1DM child.
For a good management of diabetes, the entire family must change its lifestyle, focusing on the T1DM child’s needs and activities. Thus, it becomes the adults’ responsibility to respect the insulin therapy, the diet and the physical activities. Even if the complex treatment of T1DM is precisely followed, the emotional charge of this chronic disorder may psychologically affect both children and their families. The necessity of frequently interacting with the representatives of medical systems, but also their presence in various social contexts where they have to explain the different condition of their children may generate conflict states, panic, anxiety, frustration. Knowing the major role of the family in the child’s development and evolution, it becomes easy to identify the psychological pressure felt by the parents in avoiding any diabetic complications, any psychological disturbances, any social issues that might trigger more sufferance and pain.

Conférencière

Dr. Constanta URZEALA
Lecturer PhD. at the Sports and Motor performance Department
National University of Physical Education and Sports from Bucharest
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