 |
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF LEPROSY (H.D.)
OUR MAIN WEBSITE
Four more "Leprosy" - related sites, go down the page of the above site and click on
"WEBSITES INDEX".
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS DUE TO RELIGIOUS SUPERSTITION
The patients who seem to suffer most psychological damage due to leprosy are educated adults, in particular, those who have held a prominent place in society, with a good career or job and those who have a family to support. Many fear ostracism by society and feel for their family members who also may be rejected by an intolerant and ignorant community. Tragically, those in this group who psychologically suffer most of all are the ones disowned by their most intimate family loved ones. A husband may reject his patient wife or vice-versa. I have had patients in this category actually beg me to kill them. They said, “We can endure losing fingers and toes, eyes and nose but what we cannot endure is to be rejected by those nearest and dearest”. Even though other members of the patient’s family may be in perfect health, because of association with an “unclean” person, family members are often refused employment, access to public transport, shops, offices, schools etc.. However, if efficient Health Education is taught, as part of the leprosy control program, stigma may be reduced and psychological damage prevented.
It has been known for selfish relatives of leprosy sufferers to deprive the poor victim of his land, property, employment and, in a few rare cases, even his family members. Sometimes, a leprosy patient with relatives who have a covetous attitude towards his property, sense that he is under their “death wish” and this, too, has a devastating psychological effect. Those patients from the more affluent, “higher” strata of the community, and particularly those with daughters, have been known to commit suicide because leprosy in the family makes a marriage arrangement difficult, if not impossible. So great can be the strain and trauma of facing such enormous problems that those unable to commit suicide often are affected mentally.
However, it should be understood that Hansen’s Disease has no direct effect on the brain or the mind. While the peripheral (COOLER) nerves, and the Schwann Cells in particular, are the prime target, the central nervous system and the brain suffer no direct damage. Psychological damage and mental trauma are due to society’s prejudice which is far more lethal than the disease itself.
Those patients who have untreated ulcers which can be quite malodourous, especially if there is nasal involvement, can develop a sense of self-loathing to the point where many really believe that they are “unclean”. In the Middle Ages, these patients were under a law which required them to wear a special cloak identifying them and to hang around their necks a notice warning people to keep at a “safe distance”. They also were expected to walk on the downward side of the wind. Sadly, lepromatous patients, especially those who are not allowed near wells or streams to bathe (it still happens), do have a most nauseating smell, peculiar to leprosy. That is because dead leprosy bacilli (M.leprae) in their many billions may be exuded from the skin . For the patient suffering in this way, it is like constantly living with the smell of death resulting in the patients losing all sense of personal dignity and self-esteem. While leprosy, in general (most cases are “Paucibacilliary” of the Tuberculoid type) is the least contageous of all communicable diseases (see the Guiness Book of World Records under “D” for Diseases), in terms of the “Multibacilliary” or Lepromatous types, it is the most bacilliferous.
Leprosy causes no direct hormonal changes, however, in cases of neglected, long-term lepromatous (Multibacilliary) leprosy where the male testes (cooler organs) have become infiltrated and actually destroyed by M.leprae, resultant hormonal imbalance can lead to Gynocomastia (development of large, female type breasts) and Gynocotilia (development of female type nipples) . Particularly in a patriarchal society, this can be a most devastating deformity requiring the amputation of the breasts to bring to the sufferers some measure of peace of mind. Not a few patients have been know to commit suicide because of this condition, especially where religious prejudice exists among people who have male gods. Back in Biblical times, leprosy sufferers, along with Gentiles, Slaves and Women were imagined to be under “the Curse of God”! This prejudice still exists today where male lepromatous patients with Gynocomastia, living in a society with a male dominated religion, are thought to have been “turned into a female as a “punishment for some sin committed”! This condition is exacerbated if there is also infiltration by M.leprae bacilli of the larynx, giving the sufferer a sqeeky, female type voice. The larynx, also, along with the testes and nasal passages, is a COOLER organ, prone to such damage, leading to horrendous psychological suffering. M.leprae have a predilection for the cooler areas of the body
For further information, please access :-
OUR PERSONAL WEB-SITE
OUR "FORUM ON LEPROSY"
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ANTI-LEPROSY ASSOCIATIONS (ILEP).
THE LEPROSY MISSION INTERNATIONAL
THE CHALLENGE OF LEPROSY
"The Challenge of Leprosy" may be found at Chapter 10 of the above "AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM" - autobiography of Ruth and Keith Skillicorn who spent 31 years in India and Bangladesh, maining serving in Leprosy Control.
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MAIN LEPROSY PAGE.
Click here to submit your site to the search engines for free!
HERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO HELP LEPROSY SUFFERERS PRACTICALLY
THE CHALLENGE OF LEPROSY
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ANTI-LEPROSY ASSOCIATIONS
'AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM' - our Autobiography
INDEX TO ALL OUR PERSONAL WEB-SITES
Send E-Mail to: keith_skilli@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2008 Keith Skillicorn. All Rights Reserved