My 7 year old son has had Type 1 diabetes for 3 1/2 years now. Ever since his last "major" illness (stomach flu) last November, he has been totally freaking out at even the thought of germs. If someone sneezes, he runs to another room. I am even hearing now that when he goes to the nurse's station at school for his bg checks and dosing, he refuses to sit in a particular chair because "sick kids sit there, and there's germs there". It's almost to the point where I'm concerned it might be causing some anxiety issues with him (which he has had, what we are describing as, an anxiety attack in school on two occations so far this year.) Has anyone else ever experienced this? Any thoughts on how I can help him be aware of germs, but not become overly concerned to the point of risking possible mental health concerns? Thanks in advance!!
I'm T1, and I have 3 kids (none T1), and I think it's kind of usual for any kid (T1 or not) to go through a germaphobic phase like you describe. All 3 of my kids went through something like that. Other common symptoms are not just anxiety and worrying out loud about germs, but excessive hand washing etc. It seems to be a common "phase" many kids go through as they grow up - I know all 3 of mine were similar.
Hi Lenny. I have handled some minor cases of extreme fear and phobias before...but not in children. Especially as young as 7. Indeed your son is posing some behavioral concerns. Maybe an adult of significant influence, a medical practitioner, or even peers may have given him the impression regarding germs and its association with getting "sick". Or the trauma of getting the stomach flu is deeply embedded in his mind. Have you tried talking with him? If you are deeply concerned, maybe seek the help of a child or behavioral psychologist/therapist. There are different therapies available like: "Talk Therapy" : basically clarifying matters and changing perspectives. "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy" applied in cases of irrational fears and phobias on specific objects or situations. Children are pretty resilient...its very likely that it will be managed and treated.
Thanks guys! So this could possibly just be a phase he will outgrow? If so, then I guess I'll wait it out a little longer and see what happens. I'm just worried about letting it go for too long, and it becoming a serious problem for him to overcome in the future. I've never in my life heard of a 7 year old BOY worrying about germs! If anything else... they get into tons of germ infested things that would make a mother's hair stand on end! LOL! I'm glad to know that he's not alone though (Thanks Tim!!). I have nonchalantly explained to him that he shouldn't over-worry about it... or as my MIL says "don't sweat the small stuff"... whether these casual talks are helping or not, I don't know, though.
Anxiety issues (with a biochemical basis) are related to diabetes in that they are more common in diabetics (just as depression is more common in diabetics.) It's a good idea to keep an eye on it, but it could be a phase. I'd nip it in the bud if he became obsessed with hand-washing or started to refuse to eat or do other normal kid things because of germ-phobia. It's one thing to associate the chair in the nurse's office with germs (smart kid, really!) It's another thing to refuse to play on playground equipment, refuse to eat in a restaurant, refuse to hug grand-ma etc. due to germ-phobia, right?
My grand-nephew was diagnosed with leukemia at 13 months. For the next two years, everyone around him was "germ-phobic" because he had a seriously compromised immune system from the chemo. We were all walking around with Lysol and bleach and putting on hand sanitizer every time we went out and came back in, finished in the restroom, did any housework like washing dishes or taking out the trash, etc.
Pretty soon he was running up to us saying, "Han', han', han'..." and holding out his hand for a squirt of hand sanitizer. On the one hand, we might have seen him as obsessed. On the other hand (no pun intended!) we realized that he was mimicking what he saw the adults do, no different than when a small child keeps trying to grab at mama's cell phone to "talk" or daddy's keys to "drive". After his (successful!!!) natural killer cell transplant from his daddy and his "No Mo' Chemo" party, the family went home and within six months he was pronounced in full remission with a restored immune system. The family relaxed the anti-infection hyper-vigilance and he outgrew his obsession with hand sanitizer, too.
I would recommend getting an evaluation for your son to determine whether or not this is something that is simply a phase or something that requires treatment - especially since you mention that he has had some difficulty with anxiety in the past. Anxiety is something that can be managed, and is easiest to treat when caught early. I saw that you are located in Pennsylvania. I have some colleagues (I'm a child psychologist) who trained at Penn State and do excellent work with children who are dealing with anxiety. If you are near Penn State, I recommend looking into the services offered at Penn: http://www.med.upenn.edu/ctsa/index.html. If you're closer to Philly, then CHOP has a good program as well. Good luck!