Teens and Chronic Illness


5/30/2019

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​I have worked with many teens that have some form of chronic physical illness. Coping with a chronic illness can trigger mental health struggles and can also be an additional stress for someone who is already struggling with depression or anxiety.

The many chronic illnesses that I have come across in my practice include type 1 diabetes, cancer, POTS, chronic stomach ailments such as IBS and gastroparesis, migraines, and menstrual disorders. There are many others, my clients have happened to suffered from the list above.

These kids have a lot on their plates. Some of the illnesses are straightforward and often have quick diagnoses. Others may involve months or years of symptoms, doctor appointments, and medical tests and still an answer is hard to come by. Whatever the case, the teen is not well and can have pain, feel sickly or both.

These students often have increased absences, or might not be able to attend school at all. Often times the school does not understand and may penalize the student. There are other times when the school tries to work with the student, but it is still difficult to learn and keep up with assignments when the student has erratic attendance and does not feel well. Some teachers will send home missed work, but some fail to understand that the student is unwell. Even if the assignment is accessible to the student, he may feel too sick to concentrate and do his best work, which will, nevertheless, be graded and placed on his permanent record.

Some school systems will provide Home Bound instruction for a student who is physically unable to attend school for a long stretch of time. A teacher is sent to the home to provide lessons that have been submitted by the classroom teacher. In many cases this is a simple solution. I have heard about students where it didn’t work so well. One student was taking AP Chemistry and the only teacher that was available for Home Bound taught biology. The teacher spent the hour with the student trying to learn AP Chemistry from online videos so she could then try to teach it to the student. Needless to say, it was not a good fit and the student’s learning and grade suffered.

Input depression and anxiety. “I’ll never get back to school”. “I am missing so much”. “How will I ever have a decent transcript to apply to college?” “I miss my friends”. “ I am missing out on so much!” “I feel awful and I can’t get better”.

These are all real and difficult concerns for anyone, but especially for this adolescent population whose identity is very much about peer experiences. Some teens slip into a depression as the illness continues; they feel worse physically and become more isolated socially. Their peers are moving forward, both academically and socially and it is hard to watch from your sick bed at home. It is particularly hard now when every move that any teen makes is shared on social media.

Parents of these teens are also impacted by their child’s chronic illness. They are worried about their child and obsessively seek medical answers. They miss work for doctor’s appointments and to care for their sick teen and often have little energy to regroup and plan any self-care.

I would not wish this on any family. It is draining, scary and expensive. I have one client who struggled terribly as a teen, but has returned as a young adult with less physical ailments and more resilience to go forward in her life. That fills me with joy, but I know that is not the case for all. Some illnesses are life long and can make quite a dent in one’s quality of life.

Laurie Levine