Survey of spiritual and mental experiences of thalassemic teenagers

Abstract

Introduction: Teenage period is the most important stage of human growth and development. Experiences of teenage period depend on various factors. One of these factors is the presence of chronic disease. Thalassemia is one of these diseases. These patients always undergo different treatments and are in contact with medical group. So, they may have different emotions to others and problems in communication with teenagers at the same ages. That can have bad effects on mental health of the patients and their families. Therefore, this survey of mental and spiritual experiences of these teenagers was applied to give a better care to these patients by nurses.

Methods: This was a qualitative phenomenological survey. The population studied was composed of teenagers with major thalassemia referred to Imam Reza clinic in Isfahan and Seyed Shohada Hospital. The sampling was a sort of purposeful with 10 participants. The data were collected in two months by deep interview method. The data were analyzed by Colaizzi seven-stage method.

Results: The findings of research were classified in 73 codes and four categories as followings: spiritual effects experienced due to major thalassemia, mental effects experienced by patient, mental effects experienced by their families, and mental effects experienced by the society.

Conclusion: Thalassemic teenagers are different from the healthy ones in numerous factors of their responses to diseases. Family, school and the society are among the parameters affecting stable personality formation of thalassemic patients and decreasing the psychiatric complications. On the other hand, these parameters can lead to social separation and disability. Therefore, planning good preventive strategies and giving them appropriate services and supports are necessary.