EMOTIONAL STATE OF ADOLESCENTS WITН BRONCHIAL ASTHMA

Abstract

The decision on how to work with a client is made after the therapist takes into account a number of factors that influence the current situation - illness, individual way of experiencing and accepting the illness, social environment, reference group, habits and quality of life up to now. Personality characteristics determine the direction of expected behavior in different situations, and the perception and appraisal of somatic symptoms are considered important for subsequent illness behavior and coping.
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the emotional state of adolescents with bronchial asthma through projective methodology by provoking the forms of unconscious mental experiences and to see if there is a need for group or individual psychosocial work with them.
Material and methods: 80 persons (42 female- and 38 male, aged 14 to 21 years) were examined, who were to be consulted by a pulmonologist for assessment of bronchial asthma control, at the polyclinic of the Medical Academy of Medical Sciences Sofia, in the period February-December 2021.
For this aim, Warteg's projective test (WZT) was used. This test is interpreted in different planes and thus different ways of consideration come into use. In adolescents, the interpretation of the test reflects not only a depiction of external reality, but also a personal perception of the world.
The results show that most of the examined persons (85%) have a balanced sense of their own dignity and the presence of satisfactory adjustment (accommodation, according to J. Piaget), experience ambivalence towards the current situation (82%), and 92% of them have a tendency to over-sensitivity, which can make them dependent on the surrounding world and lead to a decrease in self-esteem if the feedback is of a negative nature.
Conclusions: Long-term illness and frequent exacerbations of bronchial asthma could lead to a disturbance in the socialization of adolescents, i.e. if adolescents with asthma subjectively or objectively feel insecure about their attractiveness, insufficiently recognized or respected by the reference group, this lowers their self-esteem and disrupts their communication with others, making their social adaptation difficult.
Recommendations: It is necessary to start targeted work in a group right at the beginning when the disease bronchial asthma is detected, so that the negative consequences of the disease can be neutralized.