http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/28/2201251.htm
Junior diabetes counselling imperative: Diabetes Foundation
Andrew Anstey’s foster mother told the coroner’s court the teenager was insecure, and having trouble at school and was angry about having diabetes when he ran away from his foster home. (ABC)
The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation says it is important children diagnosed with the disease are given counselling.
The disease was highlighted this week during a coronial inquest into the death of 13-year-old Andrew Anstey.
The insulin-dependent boy ran away from his foster home in 2005 without proper medical supplies and food and later died.
The foster mother made weekly requests to the Department for Community Development for counselling for the boy but it only gave him one session weeks before he died.
She told the court the teenager was insecure, having trouble at school and was angry about having diabetes.
A spokesman for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Michael Sluis, says it is a common response to being diagnosed with the condition.
“It’s undeniable that the stress of managing the condition, which is a complex and difficult to control condition, causes additional stress and increases the probability of experiencing clinical depression,” he said.
“Most diabetes clinics are able to refer patients on to a specialist psychologist who can help them out not only with coping with the initial shock of the diagnosis but also coping with life in general.”
