Pediatricians had to increase the medication doses of their young patients during confinement to alleviate the distress of the families.
“Children’s services have been cut and parents have no respite. They are “cotton,” says pediatrician Jean-François Chicoine. We are all looking forward to returning to the usual doses. We don’t want to knock them out until the vaccine arrives. There is an emergency to help these families. ”
For nearly two months, the CHU Sainte-Justine doctor has been forced to increase the doses of several children with attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity (ADHD) or the autism spectrum .
“Every day, parents asked us to increase the medication,” said Dr. Gilles Julien, father of social pediatrics in Quebec. The children were suffocating, some had suicidal thoughts. ”
Faced with requests from desperate parents, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, he opted more for distance services than for higher doses.
“In social pediatrics, it’s very different. The children are already in great difficulty. Containment was a major stress added to toxic stresses like lack of access to food and violence. ”
Anxiety
Dr. Julien believes that compartmentalization has increased anxiety in children.
This is the case of Mathis, who suffers from ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
The 9-year-old boy has lived with his grandmother Joanne Bélec since his birth, but sees his mother regularly. Towards the end of March, Quebec suspended the access rights of parents of children in foster care to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“It was emotionally difficult,” says Ms. Bélec. After two weeks, her condition deteriorated. He started to complain about stomach aches. He had trouble walking. ” In early April, the child ended up in the emergency room. After a series of tests, the diagnosis falls: anxiety.
Routine
Annick Vincent, psychiatric doctor specializing in ADHD at the Focus Clinic in Quebec, points out that the effects of confinement diverge according to the children.
“For some, it took the stress out of school. They stopped the medication. But for others, the breakdown of the routines was very difficult. ”
Émile, 7, who has ADHD, is one of the children affected by these changes. The boy had to urgently increase his medication.
“With the end of school, he no longer had any structure or routine,” says his mother, Catherine Raymond. At first, he said he was happy, but I saw that it was not sincere. Since the start of confinement, the West Island family has tolerated “inappropriate” behavior. In May, the situation deteriorated. “I was getting hit. It was the chicane with his 11 year old sister. He was in distress, ”says Ms. Raymond.
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