The Impact of Anxiety and Depression on the Pediatric Patients with Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus represents a vast pathology which attestation is known since ancient times and research made in the recent years reveals increasingly clear data on the connection between diabetes and psychiatric disorders. Diabetes can cause psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, acute stress response and adjustment disorders, as well as organic personality disorders and/or affectivity disorders. There is an increase in diabetic patients worldwide and in the same time for the pediatric cases with diabetes. Moreover, there is an association between the development of anxiety and depression symptoms in patients with diabetic comorbidity and the association of these three entities represents an interesting subject in the medical world. The main purpose of this study is to deepen the knowledge about the association of three diseases in children, in order to establish a working algorithm applicable in current clinical practice. We were able to identify the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with diabetes mellitus insulin dependent and no other psychiatric pathologies diagnosed before the study by applying the Hamilton A questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory and Children’s Depression Inventory. There were analyzed correlations between their scale’s scores and the values of our patient’s glycemia, glycosylated hemoglobin, number of insulin doses per day and the calories consumed per day. This study makes an important contribution highlighting the  psychological aspects in the context of medical conditions, referring to the therapeutic relationship and approaching of the pediatric patient in a bio-psycho-social context, recognizing the complexity of the factors that contribute to a medical success in the pediatric field related to the type of special relationship in which several persons are involved incuding the relatives of the patients. Given the particularities of the individual with normal mental development during adolescence, recognized as a period of psychobiological crisis, it is important to realise a pattern of therapeutic interaction with this category of patients who associates anxiety- depression- diabetes.