IDENTIFICATION BRACELET OR CARD FOR DIABETIC CHILDREN

Your child should always carry some identification

It is wise for your child to wear some means of identification at all times.

It is perhaps most unlikely that an emergency will arise when no one that knows him is with your child, but as the possibility does exist, you should be prepared.

Accidents can happen on the way to school or visiting friends, or perhaps he may have a hypo while he is away from home. In either event he may not be able to tell anyone he has diabetes, and this could mean he is not given the appropriate treatment promptly.

Most children now wear identification as a bracelet on the wrist or on a chain. You may have your own engraved or use one supplied by organizations such as the S.O.S. Talisman or Medic Alert bracelet.

Teenagers may carry a card

Teenagers may prefer to have a card giving full information.

It is suggested that you have your child’s name, address and telephone number, the word ‘Diabetes’ and the name and telephone number of his own doctor or hospital to be called in an emergency.

If your child carries this information at all times you will have the security of knowing he would be properly cared for in the unlikely event of a severe hypo reaction or accident when away from home.

*67/54/5*

WAYS OF COPING WITH STRESS: DRUGS AND STRESS

In different cases, different factors operate in precipitating an individual into the habit of drug-taking. It may be simply a matter of relentless pressure of one’s peers, or nothing more than the desire to explore new fields. To experiment. ‘How can you evaluate something that you have never experienced?’ Nevertheless, stress plays an important part in bringing many people to take drugs for the first time, and in maintaining use of the drug before actual addiction has set in.

People under stress hear that marijuana brings a feeling of relaxed well-being and counteracts the anxiety and nervous tension of stress. There are usually friends who say, ‘I take it. You can see it has no ill effect on me. What do you lose by giving it a trial?’ So he tries it, and discovers it does bring a feeling of relaxation, and dispels some of the anxiety of stress. So he repeats it, and soon becomes a regular user.

It helps a lot, but maybe it does not relieve all the tension. Then one day the tension is more severe than usual. ‘Perhaps I need something a bit stronger. Just once, or a couple of times to settle me down.’ And he is off on heroin.

But in more than forty years of psychiatry, I have seen enough to know that those who do not go beyond marijuana may still suffer terrible consequences. Even old hands at the game may suddenly have a bad trip. This may occur after starting some orthodox medication, after an unaccustomed amount of alcohol, after some additional stress or in the incubation period of some virus illness. Perhaps, more commonly, the sudden bad trip appears without any discernible cause. In the bad trip the individual may injure himself or others, or even commit some antisocial act of which he may have no subsequent recollection.

I have seen several young introverts precipitated into schizophrenia by their experience of the dreamy unreality that often goes with the taking of marijuana. But distinct from the schizophrenic reactions, others have developed a toxic psychosis requiring hospitalization in a psychiatric institution.

There is another, less spectacular and less well-publicized reaction which may follow the use of marijuana. This is chronic marijuana intoxication. It occurs in people who have been taking the drug for some time. It is the counterpart of chronic alcoholism, but the clinical signs are slightly different. In chronic marijuana intoxication there is a general falling off the individual’s performance, both socially and at work. The person concerned is unable to accept this, even when it is pointed out to him. His typical reply is, ‘I am all right. You can see I’m all right.’ He is likely to repeat this statement several times, which in itself is evidence that he is not quite all right. Perhaps the most obvious feature of chronic marijuana intoxication is the individual’s lack of concern. The unconcern is all pervasive, extending not only into all aspects of his own life, but into the affairs of others and of the community in general.

We have discussed how stress may precipitate the individual into drug-taking, and how the effects of the drug may come to have a disastrous effect on his life. But there is another reaction which occurs in the early stages of drug-taking. There may come an awareness of increasing dependence on the drug. Then a panic: ‘Am I hooked? Have I become hooked without knowing it?’ The acute problem adds to the individual’s level of stress, and so makes withdrawal of the drug still more difficult.

*70/98/5*

MAJOR PROBLEMS LEADING TO STRESS: CANCER

“I had the lump there. But sometimes you get bits of thickening. He said he thought it was OK but thought he had better do a biopsy. Then this report and he says I must have it off. Next week at the latest. So casual about it. Just an incident for him, but for me, my life. More, think of it! Fondling, loving. Oh, God. He’s sweet. Says he will love me just the same. But it can’t be. Says it’s me that he loves, not my body. But my body is me. Such an important part, for me and for him. Cuddling. Misshapen. I cannot think of it.

‘People talk about alternatives. He didn’t. But some people do. So little is known, could I take the risk?

‘The children. To grow up without a mother. So young. So different from what might have been. Deformed in their way. A child growing up without a mother becomes deformed in the spirit. Deformed, just as I shall be. Life, as I knew it, is at an end.”

The devastating problem, the effect of the cancer on herself, is made worse by the associated problems of its effect on her husband and children. Her brain is filled with so many nervous impulses that it ceases to function properly. She cannot think clearly. She does not know what to do.

She urgently needs to reduce her nervous tension. Of course, this can be achieved most effectively through simple meditation. If you should ever have the misfortune to find yourself in some such similar situation, don’t react by saying, ‘How can I meditate when I am distraught like this? You need to be calm to meditate.’ No. Just let it come, slowly, just slowly, and little by little calmness comes to our mind. And as we repeat the process, the effect of it gradually flows on into our life as a whole.

*32/98/5*

PREVENTION OF VENEREAL DISEASES

• The best prevention against venereal disease is to have as few sexual partners as possible. It is unusual for those who have sex with only one partner to catch a venereal disease but it is not impossible. Certain venereal infections can be caught from towels, sheets and lavatory seats, so it makes sense to avoid using other people’s belongings. Some people avoid public lavatories for this reason. Thrush and certain other genital infections in women can be transmitted to their partners who need never have had sex outside the partnership. Needless to say, babies who catch herpes or other venereal infections have not had sexual contact with anyone-they have contact with the infected genitals of their mothers.

• If you are having sex with someone you don’t know well (on a one-night stand, for example) it makes sense for the man to use a sheath. Women who have sex with strangers should always carry a sheath and insist that the man wear it. Likewise, men should carry a sheath against this eventuality. The diaphragm offers some small protection to a woman but not nearly as much as does a sheath. Spermicidal foam has some effect in killing off the organisms that cause VD.

• At the first sign of any of the above diseases seek help. This makes sense not only because you will be treated more quickly and more effectively but because the best form of prevention against VD is ensuring that anyone who knows he or she has the condition prevents themselves from passing it on to others. If you have any of the above symptoms stop having sex and get help.

• If you discover any of the above symptoms be ready to tell the clinic who your sex partners were so that they can trace them and treat them too. Absolute confidentiality is the rule at these clinics but unless your sexual contacts are traced and treated the infected people will go on to infect others.

• Prevention ideally starts early-at school and at home-by instructing children and teenagers about the dangers of sex with multiple partners. Many schools currently give such information but the quality is extremely variable and much of it takes the form of scare stories. This often has exactly the opposite effect as many children unconsciously turn away from such unpalatable information. There is a real need for professional sex educators, who would go round schools telling children about the many aspects of love and sex, among which would be a discussion of sexually transmitted diseases.

With the current scares over AIDS and herpes there are signs that VD is decreasing a little as people reduce their promiscuity somewhat. This started off among US homosexuals but is spreading to affect heterosexuals and other countries too.

*254/72/5*