Anxiety – was it the first emotion when Atopic Dermatitis was diagnosed in your baby?

This year’s series is Atopic Dermatitis ABC – a lighthearted, be-there-with-you companion where the ABCs will act as your eczema survival guide. In just 5 minutes, I came up with 15 words that start with A that are related to atopic dermatitis (AD). I disregarded all of them (not because they’re wrong since we’d get to what is atopic dermatitis, autoimmune, allergies and avoidance), but because I remembered when I first learnt of my baby’s eczema, it’s not the medical terms that come to mind. It’s ANXIETY, and it comes from the heart. Your heart, my heart, the hearts of all parents who suddenly find themselves in a challenging situation. Something like this.

This needs no caption.

It is normal to feel anxious when something has gone wrong, when something is happening to your baby, and when you’re not sure what that something is (didn’t the delivery hospital say rashes are to be expected? and ok?) and when even when you know what that something is, you can’t cure it and you’re never sure when it would come back? If your heart has started beating faster like mine, it may be that all these feelings and thoughts are anxious ones that come when we’re not in control. And the most paradoxical part is atopic dermatitis is about controlling the eczema, since you can’t quite cure it.

Wait, do you agree with me?

IS THIS ANXIETY EVEN REAL?

Fortunately, we’re not self-deluded. In an October 2016 study published in the Asia Pacific Allergy1 by researchers at Inha University Hospital, South Korea, 78 children with their parents took part in a study to examine the family quality of life (QoL). The mean age of parents was 37 years old (majority 87% mothers), and the mean age of their children was 5+ years old, having atopic dermatitis for about 2 years. The tests included questionnaires (including Satisfaction with Life Scale survey) and using score card to measure eczema severity (SCORAD index).

It was found that a low family quality of life was related to the eczema severity, when the children with atopic dermatitis were girls and the negative emotionality of parents. Parents of children with AD is known to be associated with depression and stress in previous studies.

In another study2 more than a decade earlier, published in British Journal of Dermatology in Feb 2004, researchers examined the psychosocial well-being of parents caring for a young child with AD. Out of 187 parents, it was observed that parents of children with a higher severity of atopic dermatitis reported a significantly higher impact on family functioning and a greater financial burden. The results showed the need to focus on parental well-being and ability to cope with stress and social strain.

NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE ANXIETY IS REAL, HOW DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD FARE ON THE SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE?

Here’s the test3 that you can take:

Below are five statements that you may agree or disagree with. Using the 1 – 7 scale below, indicate your agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number on the line preceding that item. Please be open and honest in your responding.
7 – Strongly agree
6 – Agree
5 – Slightly agree
4 – Neither agree nor disagree
3 – Slightly disagree
2 – Disagree
1 – Strongly disagree

____ In most ways my life is close to my ideal.

____ The conditions of my life are excellent.

____ I am satisfied with my life.

____ So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.

____ If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

31 – 35 Extremely satisfied
26 – 30 Satisfied
21 – 25 Slightly satisfied
20 Neutral
15 – 19 Slightly dissatisfied
10 – 14 Dissatisfied
5 –  9 Extremely dissatisfied

I hope you end up on the satisfied end of the scale, but if not, don’t be anxious – 5 questions are not going to determine your life’s happiness. Your child’s eczema condition is. (One question, in this eczema context).

References:

1. Jang HJ, Hwang S, Ahn Y, Lim DH, Sohn M, Kim JH. Family quality of life among families of children with atopic dermatitis. Asia Pacific Allergy. 2016;6(4):213-219. doi:10.5415/apallergy.2016.6.4.213.

2. Warschburger, P., Buchholz, H.TH. and Petermann, F. (2004), Psychological adjustment in parents of young children with atopic dermatitis: which factors predict parental quality of life?. British Journal of Dermatology, 150: 304–311. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2004.05743.x

3. Ed Diener, Robert A. Emmons, Randy J. Larsen and Sharon Griffin as noted in the 1985 article in the Journal of Personality Assessment

Eczema Blues