Children’s Drawings Can Help Doctors Diagnose and Treat Illness

Children’s Drawings Can Help Doctors Diagnose and Treat Illness

Recently, researchers found that some children could sketch their chronic headache symptoms. The sketches illustrate their headache pain. This helps the doctors determine how to treat the young child. 

Could sketches, sculptures, musings of our sick children be a way of communicating what they need to heal themselves? 

It seems so, based on this new headache research. 

Children seem to have a way of expressing themselves in various ways that often go unnoticed by many busy parents or medical staff. 

Art Therapy has been around a long time and is has been used mostly for mental and emotional applications. Since Art Therapy works for headache diagnosis, I think it could be used for other health maladies. Perhaps this is an untapped tool for you and your child's doctor. 

When the doctors can offer no more hope, perhaps your child's artwork or crafts might help. The approach could be patterned after the headache diagnosis research. 

Here are some suggestions for you and healthcare professionals: 

1. Learn about how arts and crafts might help you and your child communicate with the doctor. Some references are below. More is on the Internet or your local library. If possible, find an Art Professional to work with you and your child. This might be an Art Therapist or maybe even an understanding Art Teacher at a local school.

2. Encourage your child to sketch out their illness. Ask your child to show what the health condition is like. The health symptom might be pain, autoimmune activity, or the like. Maybe even ask them to draw or paint what they need to fix their health. Be patient. At this point, do not try to diagnose the sketches yourself.

3. Find a willing healthcare professional to review the artwork and your child's medical history. Make sure the healthcare professional takes you seriously. Show them this article or other information about children helping to diagnose their headaches. Perhaps the Art Therapist or Teacher can help establish the bridge between you and the doctor.

4. You and the healthcare person might be surprised at the results. The artwork might reveal something that was overlooked by the medical team.

5. Watch your expectations. Using art to help diagnose illness is a new science. Actually, it is not even a traditional science. It is the merging of science and art.

6. In all this, know that you, your child, and others are all doing your best. At least you might know more what it is like going through what your child is going through. 

TAKEWAYS:

1. Children are now helping their doctors diagnose and treat their conditions by using art.

2. Art Therapy has been around for years. Art Therapists are now working with Physicians to help diagnose and treat physical conditions.

3. In using Art to help diagnose and treat illness, what do you have to lose? 

For more information:

• The Usefulness of Children's Drawings in the Diagnosis of Headache
• Understanding Children's Drawings by Cathy A. Malchiodi, Guilford Press, 2012
• Changes in understanding of illness as the child grows
• Art Therapy

Disclaimer - Article is for information only and is not medical advice.