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There is an epidemic of a completely new disease in many schools. It is called “school” or “training”. It manifests itself as pain in the head, abdomen or other parts of the body. The symptoms always appear before the lesson begins.
Are the children suffering from “school” simulators and little liars? Or maybe their organisms react like that to some lessons or teachers?
Miraculous recovery
Before the maths, 10 years old Wojtek felt his stomach ache. There was just about to be a test. He went to the school nurse. This one took his temperature. She put it on the couch and pressed her hand against her stomach, checking if she was bloated and time passed. Then she made mint tea. Time passed. Finally she called the boy’s mother. In such situations, parents most often come and take the child home. Wojtek’s mother decided to wait two hours. She asked the nurse to observe him at the next break. When she called two hours later, she found out that her son had forgotten about his illness. Mathematics is over and Wojtek happily played ping pong during the break. He simulated?
According to the pediatrician, prof. Andrzej Radzikowski, no. If a child has a stomach ache at school and stops in after-school time, it should be suspected that it is psychogenic pains. The child experiences them because of the stress caused by the fear of going to school. It doesn’t pretend at all, it really suffers. – It happens that older children simulate an illness. But the younger ones really feel pain from stress or fatigue, she explains.
How serious is the problem? According to a study by the British organization YoungMinds dealing with adolescent mental disorders, as many as one in six young people experiences problems related to anxiety. Polish psychiatrists estimate that even every tenth child suffers from social phobias.
Belly and head – school excuse or anxiety or depression?
The well-known saying about the finger, head and school excuse takes on a completely different meaning from the perspective of child psychiatrists. – Fear is an emotion that people experience not only in the mental sphere – emphasizes the psychiatrist of children and adolescents, Dr. Monika Szewczuk-Bogusławska from the Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical University in Wrocław. In anxiety situations, the following may occur: accelerated heartbeat, hand tremors, reddening of the face skin, sweating, urge to urinate, diarrhea with abdominal pain, sometimes shortness of breath and chest pain.
– When, on the other hand, anxiety and its somatic symptoms appear in situations related to contact with other people, e.g. responding to lessons, talking on the phone, eating in the presence of other people – we may suspect that it is a social phobia. Children who suffer from it try to avoid situations that cause fear in them at all costs. They often refuse to go to school, they delay the moment of leaving home – explains Dr. Szewczuk-Bogusławska.
Pain can also accompany depression. It manifests itself in depression and pessimistic thinking, including death and suicide, discouragement, loss of interest, lack of energy, slowness, disturbed sleep and appetite. Pain ailments are also common, especially headaches that do not go away with painkillers or pass for a while.
Electronic thermometer is harder to cheat
It happens that children wanting to avoid a bad grade, the consequences of missing homework or simply contacting a demanding teacher, come up with symptoms that cannot be easily verified.
Contrary to their younger colleagues, middle school students sometimes try to simulate an illness. In their opinion, the best solution is a fever. On the mercury thermometers used until recently, it was easier to falsify the measurement result. It was enough to put it imperceptibly into a mug of warm drink, and the silver line went up like an arrow shot from a bow. There were even cases where children went to the hospital for x-rays because they overheated the thermometer and it burst, and mercury fell into the drink that the simulator was drinking. Today, an electronic thermometer is harder to cheat, but there are ways to do it. On internet forums you can read how junior high school students exchange experiences on research on the nature of fever. The most common method of producing it is to eat a raw potato or baking powder. However, there are entries: “about drinking your own urine” or swallowing tablets. In such situations, it is worth using the help of a school counselor, who can teach the child the methods of systematic learning so that he does not have to avoid classes by simulating an illness.
Calcium investigation
Child psychologist Agnieszka Robak believes that the parent of a child who suffers from various ailments before going to school must play detective. “It’s worth it, because removing the factor causing these symptoms is the most effective method of getting rid of them,” he says. He adds that the help of a school counselor or psychologist should be used. It is also good to contact the tutor. Sometimes the child has arrears and you only need to catch up. It happens that a toddler does not want to go to school not out of fear. He can just do something more attractive at home.
– In such a situation, it is also good to consider when was the last time we did something together with the child? How much time do we devote to him? When was the last time we talked to him about school, his friends, teachers? – advises the psychologist. Often the cause of stress and reluctance to school are excessive parental requirements and the child’s inability to meet them. – There are many children overburdened with responsibilities – he emphasizes. You also need to check whether our child has any limitations completely independent of him.
Dyslexia in dyscalculia
There are children who have trouble concentrating. Hyperactivity, or ADHD, is a disease that has already been proven through brain imaging studies.
Difficulty in reading can also be a problem. Another disorder at the neuronal level is dysorthography, which is the inability to master the correct spelling and spelling. Also, independent of the child’s good intentions is dysgraphy, commonly known as “scribbling like a hen’s claw”. Also, difficulties in learning math, or dyscalculia, are not the result of a lack of intelligence. It can happen to children with normal mental development, who often achieve great results on intelligence tests. As emphasized by psychologist Monika Konsowska from the pedagogical and psychological counseling center in Warsaw, such disorders must be diagnosed and properly worked with.
– The child can see for himself that his notebook is not as pretty as his friends from the bench. He tries, but his is always uglier. Self-esteem and self-esteem drop. This can lead to stress and aversion to school, she explains. He adds that such a little one needs to be mentally strengthened and rewarded. – You cannot assess the effect, because it will always be insufficient, but the amount of effort and work put in – he adds.
Hello, I’m here
Psychologist Monika Konsowska says that sometimes the psychogenic pains signaled by the child may not be related to school. – The child is a barometer of family tensions. Such pains may be a reaction to a parent’s poor performance at work or a bad relationship with a partner. Even if the parents do not argue in front of the child, the child may still feel the tension, she says. He adds that such ailments can also be an attempt to attract attention. When parents devote too little time to their offspring, the little one tries to interest them in a proven way – by being sick. It also happens when someone else in the family is sick and focuses all attention on himself. The reason may also be the appearance of a younger sibling, which completely absorbs the parents.
A stressed child also often has tension symptoms, such as nail biting, tapping, hair pulling, pencil biting.
The pediatrician has to do his job
Pediatrician Janusz Tylewicz, who works in the practice of a family doctor, says that he never suspects children of simulating the symptoms of the disease. – I listen to what parents say, because they are with their children every day. Before I refer them to a psychologist or psychiatrist, I have to rule out many diseases – peptic ulcer disease, diseases related to intestinal peristalsis, dietary errors, food intolerance, chronic kidney diseases, developmental defects, appendicitis or even cancer. You have to undress the child and carefully examine it – he explains. He adds that to diagnose a young patient, he must order blood, urine and stool tests for worms. Often the cause of such ailments are pinworms, sometimes human roundworm and, less often, tapeworm. Further diagnostics is abdominal ultrasound, and sometimes gastroscopy, which is done in the hospital for children. Sometimes a computed tomography may also be needed.
– If all the tests show nothing, I suggest parents consult a psychologist, and sometimes a psychiatrist. I had a case of a girl suffering from abdominal pain as a consequence of anorexia, which in turn turned out to be a harbinger of bipolar disorder. That is why you must never underestimate abdominal pain – she emphasizes.
Psychogenic pains and mental disorders
According to the pediatrician, prof. Andrzej Radzikowski, if a child has psychogenic pains, it is worth using the help of a child psychologist, and sometimes a psychiatrist. They are often the result of exhaustion – School requires more and more. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. But it can cause such ailments – he says. He adds that the tension helps to relieve sports or dancing. However, he warns that psychogenic pains may be intensified by spending free time in front of the computer, especially computer games.
Psychiatrist Dr. Monika Szewczuk-Bogusławska explains that in the case of social phobias it is necessary to contact a psychiatrist. – Fortunately, it is usually possible to help the child and the parents quickly. Usually, psychotherapy is a sufficient method of treatment, although sometimes medications should also be used additionally – he explains. If you give birth to symptoms of depression, you should definitely seek help from a child psychiatrist. – As in anxiety disorders, treatment of depression also improves and symptoms disappear within a few weeks – says the doctor.