Discuss the importance of exercising caution in applying ...

[DelorasTo]

Discuss the importance of exercising caution in applying psychiatric labels to children with chronic illness who display symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Michelle has recently been diagnosed with childhood cancer. Understandably, her parents are concerned about her well-being and want to know how they can best help Michelle to cope with the painful procedures she will have to endure. What advice and suggestions would you make to Michelle's parents?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[14vl19]

Answer to Question 1

Most children with chronic illness show considerable resilience in the face of stressful experiences associated with their condition, and we should exercise caution in applying psychiatric labels or descriptors that fail to capture the context and nature of their circumstances.

Answer to Question 2

In general, there are two main psychological approaches to helping children cope with stressful medical procedures and chronic and recurrent pain: providing information and training them in coping skills (Thompson & Gustafson, 1996). Information strategies offer verbal explanations and demonstrations as well as modeling the procedure, which reduce distress because this makes the medical procedure more predictable (Jaaniste, Hayes, & von Baeyer, 2007).

Coping strategies involve teaching the various coping skills of deep breathing, attention distraction muscle relaxation, relaxing imagery, emotive imagery, and behavioral rehearsal (e.g., children may be asked to imagine themselves as superheroes undergoing a test of their powers) (Dahlquist, 1999). Children are encouraged to identify specific stressors associated with their illness (e.g., giving themselves an injection) and to learn ways to handle those stressors and prevent distress or failure.