A 15-year-old girl reports that she now leads a normal life after doctors connected the issue to her mental health. Her family had spent years trying to figure out why she was experiencing such severe pain.
Jasmine was hurt while using a trampoline when she was seven years old.
Her initial knee pain spread to her legs, and she began to eat less, but doctors were unable to pinpoint the exact cause.
Eventually, a condition that causes physical symptoms in response to psychological distress was identified in her.
Before Jasmine, a resident of Peterborough, was evaluated at a mental health facility in Cambridge and given the diagnosis of somatoform disorder or conversion disorder, she underwent a battery of tests over the course of three years.
Jasmine claims that her pain was related to her anxiety over not eating.
After the trampoline incident, Jasmine was forced to wear a leg brace because the pain in her leg became so severe that she was unable to go to school.
She moved around with the aid of a wheelchair and crutches.
She admitted, "I was really scared. I was unable to attend class or play with my friends.
"I couldn't perform all the typical youthful tasks. In and out of a wheelchair I went. ".
Jasmine's family claimed that despite years of doctor visits, she was still unable to find the source of her excruciating pain.
Jasmine said, "I didn't know how long it would last or if it would affect my whole life. "I merely wanted to understand why it was occurring. ".
In two different hospitals, Jasmine claimed to have seen "loads of doctors," "where I had CT scans, but they couldn't find what was wrong, which made me really angry.".
Because she didn't know, Jasmine eventually started refusing to eat anything.
She claimed, "I was sure someone had tainted my grapes, and then it spread to breakfast cereals like cornflakes.
"I used to only eat bread, but eventually it got to the point where I wasn't eating any bread at all. ".
Jasmine visited The Croft Child and Family Unit, an in-patient facility for kids with mental health issues and their families, shortly after that.
Jasmine was diagnosed with conversion disorder after they discovered through play therapy and conventional therapy sessions that her symptoms and food anxiety were related to her physical pain.
According to Nancy Bostock, a consultant paediatrician at The Croft, "We know that roughly 75% of all mental health disorders begin in childhood and adolescence, so it's critical that we recognize the lasting effects that mental health challenges have on children.
"There is no way to have either physical or mental health without the other; they are inextricably linked.". ".
On her 11th birthday, Jasmine left The Croft and claims she now leads a typical life.
"I've been very busy. She stated, "I dance, I do gymnastics, I do theater.
I enjoy acting. Simply put, it's been excellent. ".
A new children's hospital in Cambridge is expected to offer a coordinated approach to both physical and mental health.
For the Cambridge Children's Hospital, which will be located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Dr. Isobel Hyman is the clinical co-lead for mental health.
She stated that the hospital would work to integrate children's mental and physical health care.
She claimed, "That hasn't been done in a complete way before.".
"Medicine has advanced to a point where focusing on the mind and body independently of one another is no longer appropriate.
. "
