Having a child is an innovation that excites all couples, makes them expect, make plans, and changes their lives. From the moment every woman finds out she is pregnant, they start making future plans as a family. Planning begins by considering the children's health, education, upbringing and social environment. However, unfortunately, sometimes this pregnancy may not end as expected and parents may have a disabled child. According to statistics, one in every ten children is born with a disability, while in our country, a disabled child is born in one in every 7-8 families. There are approximately 3.5 million disabled children in Turkey.
When each child is born, he needs the care, compassion and attention of his family. Raising a healthy child and gaining a place in society is more likely in every respect. However, unfortunately, things change when a disabled child is born. Parental roles are not the same as they are with a healthy child, and living with a disabled child affects family members socially, psychologically and economically. Parents are often disappointed in having a disabled child. (Ergin, Şen, Eryılmaz, Pekuslu and Kayacı 2005) Since they cannot have the child they expect, this disappointment is followed by emotions such as shock, anger, shame, guilt, rejection and suffering. . The feeling of suffering actually shows that they accept the situation they are in, and over time, depression begins to occur as a result of the feeling of pain. Often, parents become depressed with the belief that they cannot do everything in the face of the responsibilities they assume (Sandalcı 2002, Gökcan 2004). The need for more time, money and energy to care for the child and the emotional distress they bring with them cause mothers and fathers to experience stress (Küçüker, 2001). In addition, while families with a healthy child do not have any problems in receiving social support and can continue their routine lives, families with a disabled child The level of social support decreases in families with When she spends all her time with a child who needs more care than usual and does not receive support from the environment, her level of depression and anxiety increases accordingly. Parents say that they cannot have a life like before, their social life is over, they are left without support from the environment and they are economically struggling. This level is gradually increasing because they see that the anxiety score of mothers of children with autism and Down syndrome is higher than the anxiety score of mothers of normally developing children.
There are some situations that affect the anxiety levels of parents of disabled children:
1- According to research, parents of disabled daughters feel more anxiety than parents of disabled sons. The reason for this has been shown to be changes in the physical development of the girl child and what will happen if she needs lifelong care, during adolescence.
2- Negative experiences of mothers with their disabled children increase their anxiety levels.
3- The time the child spends in the special education center does not affect the anxiety level.
4- Anxiety levels vary depending on the education level of the parents.
5- The depression level of some families is higher than the depression level of other families with disabled children. The reason why it is low is the belief that it will improve in the future.
Read: 0
