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Season 1: Episode 7 - Remember To Have Mental & Emotional Support, Too.

Season #1

We are finishing up some of our episodes after Scoliosis Awareness Month and right before we go back to school this fall. And one of the things that we really wanna talk about is the emotional component of a scoliosis diagnosis.

Listen in to learn more and be sure to check out the links below for more information!

 

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 *****Transcript*****

We are finishing up some of our episodes after Scoliosis Awareness Month and right before we go back to school this fall. And one of the things that we really wanna talk about is the emotional component of a scoliosis diagnosis. And it's easy to be focused on the physical part, the diagnosis part, looking at the x-rays, looking at the spine, talking about whether you need a brace or not need a brace or surgery might be a conversation that comes up.

There's typically a lot of conversations in those initial weeks following a diagnosis, and if you are having that diagnosis and that conversation with your teenager or with your child, to be aware that there's also a very big emotional piece to that, that they're not going to be able to probably tell you about or even recognize that they need support in that space. And I see that a lot with the patients that we work with and I really, really am passionate about the fact that we need to talk about it a little bit more.

Because as adults, we get caught up in the diagnosis and the what do we do next phase of that diagnosis.

And that's the focus, right? Because a scoliosis diagnosis can be a little overwhelming. There's a lot of information, especially if you weren't expecting it or if you are not familiar with scoliosis, if this is something new to the conversations that you've had , it's just easy to focus on that piece of it because we have to figure out a plan.

I also want everyone to know that in the midst of that, we also have to have a plan for the emotional and mental health of the patient, whether that's, maybe that's yourself or maybe that's a child that you are working with as well.

So, what does that look like? How do we get emotional and mental support surrounding the diagnosis?

Obviously everybody's needs are different and people handle things differently. I can say across the board, kids don't have the tools or the skills to be able to process those emotions and to be able to work that out with themselves. So finding the right support is going to be extremely helpful, not just for you and your family, but also for the providers that are working with you as well.

And what I mean by that is in a lot of scenarios, if a child isn't handling the news well, if they're not feeling like they can talk about it or maybe they don't know how to talk about it, there's a lot of big feelings that come with that, especially if we're talking about surgery or a brace. Oftentimes they don't even know or understand, or they can't put a word to what they're feeling or how to even explain it to somebody.

And so, if they're caught up in that and we're coming to appointments and we're trying to get them into a brace full-time and possibly doing, , rehab appointments where they're coming in more frequently. If they're not able to process those emotions, we can't be as productive in those appointments and we can't be as productive in wearing the brace because every time they're trying to put the brace on, or every time they're trying to do the things that they need to do at home, those emotions come up and can be the focus and they can really inhibit their success as far as going through treatment.

So when we're talking about that piece of it, it's about, you know, identifying if and when your child needs support, and then where do we find that support? So that can look different for a lot of different people.

What we recommend is you start somewhere where they might be comfortable, and that's for yourself as well. So if you're an adult listening to this and you feel like that emotional or that mental support hasn't been there in your life across the board from either from the, when the diagnosis initially happened or after a surgery or any of those scenarios, you start with some place that is reasonable.

So for a teenager it might be maybe a school counselor, or maybe it's somebody at their church, whether it's a pastor or maybe it's, , a friend at their church or someplace that they can have those conversations and feel comfortable talking about those. Now those are obviously, you know, pretty easy supports where it's very general.

Sometimes we run into instances in which we need more support. And then there's counselors that are available that are really skilled in working with teenagers, adults, across all sorts of different scenarios and helping them be able to process and work through some of those emotions. And really what I found is when kids can work through that and they can actually, be able to communicate about what they're feeling and maybe put some words to what they're feeling with some help from a counselor, then when they come in to do the appointments that they need to do, whether that's for a brace or that's for rehab, or anything else that we're doing, they're really able to focus and be more productive because they don't have all the background noise going on.

And so oftentimes it can be unavoidable, right?

If we get new news or if it's something new that we're working on. But I have seen people over 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, really not have the support that they need and not be able to move forward in their care because that emotional piece just wasn't connected and they didn't have the support that they needed.

So I really encourage families talk about it openly. Have that conversation. Ask them how they're doing and you'll know too, like, you know, how your kid normally acts if either seeming like they're withdrawn or they're quiet and maybe they're not interacting as much. Or, talking to the providers that are working with them as well, if they're noticing that they're withdrawn or maybe not engaging in conversation or not able to participate in parts of their care. Those are all really big red flags that they just need some extra support, and it can be a lot of different options. Now, obviously it's easiest if you have a counselor that you can find and you can get them in, and they have that like outside person that they can have conversations with and that they can utilize throughout their care. That's a fantastic resource. If you don't have that availability, there are other places, whether that's at school, a school counselor , a church, um, something like that. Just some place that they can get that support.

And the other piece to that isn't necessarily as prevalent where we're from because we live in a really rural area. But there are some online support groups. I always caution people, there's two sides to support groups, right? The online forums that you can find, whether it's on Facebook or Instagram, social media, different things like that is obviously when you join a group, you don't exactly know the background of that group or who's running the group, and so you wanna make sure that you find those resources and that they actually fit your needs. If you jump into a scoliosis support group online and every post is about super scary, horrific outcomes of people's stories, that's not going to be a benefit to you necessarily as far as giving you the resources that you need, it might actually just increase your anxiety and make you worry more.

So I really am an advocate for good resources and support groups. Be careful as you're digging through social media options and things like that, that you're finding things that are encouraging and good for you. And obviously there are some scary parts to a scoliosis diagnosis, especially if it's significant.

So we don't wanna be naive and we don't want to only focus on things that have fantastic outcomes, right? We wanna know. The other side of the coin as well. And sometimes that does include some negative things or maybe outcomes that aren't the best. But it shouldn't be the focus because we wanna find ways to get some solid ground on the new information that you have so that you can move forward in positive ways and to focus on the things that you can control. And then really just gather information as you go through that from trusted providers. So there's a couple of online groups that we have available and I'll link those underneath, um, the episode so that you can find those.

And if you would like to join those, you can go into them. See if it's something that works for you.

The other thing that you can do too is, sometimes depending on where you're located, there might be local events where, whether it's more for like teenagers or sometimes even parents of teenagers that have scoliosis. There can be some meetups in some groups where you can meet other families that are dealing with some of the same things. So you can look for those resources as well. Sometimes in especially bigger cities, you might find some groups that have those accessible to you where you can actually go do something fun, like maybe go bowling, um, and then catch up and get to know people that are walking that same path as you.

And so as far as making those connections to the resources that you need, there's lots of options, locally we've got some really great counselors that have been, instrumental in the care of some of our patients to be able to really help them get to a place where they've been able to process through some of the big emotions so they could make better decisions about their care, and it's just been fantastic to see.

So if you have questions, even regarding maybe something related to more of a mental, emotional, component to your care, um, you can find more information on our website. Reach out to us. We're happy to share information and resources even if you're not a patient of ours.

We'd love to see if we can help direct you if you feel like you are just kind of lost or not finding what you need, so feel free to go to our website and look through some of that information and let us know if you need anything. We'll be back next week. We're going to talk about one of the biggest things that we see going back to school is how do we take a brace back to school, and what do we need to know about that and who do we need to talk to?

So we'll be back with that next week, and until then, I hope you have a great week.

Thanks for spending time with me today. If you could leave a review before you go, that would help us reach more people that need this message. To learn more about the services and resources that we have available, visit us at behindthebrace.com. this show is produced by RAYMA Team Media. To learn more about how they can help you with your podcast, visit raymateam.com.