An Open Letter About Hyperhidrosis in Children

Earlier this month, I came across an article published in a medical journal that addressed the issue of anxiety in children, advising what pediatricians should be looking for.  While the article was written for the medical community and not “lay” persons such as myself, I naturally felt the need to add my two cents.

Having been a child who suffered in isolation, I felt I had a different perspective to offer.  You can read the article here and you will see that the author (who is, from what I understand, a top professional in her specialty) goes into great detail about using screening tests and other tools to determine whether a child suffers from anxiety disorder, panic attacks, or even OCD.  I firmly believe an “anxious” child should be screened for hyperhidrosis, as well.  Here is an excerpt of what I wrote:

“….I am writing to you because I wanted to share another perspective on anxiety in children and adolescents.

I am a stay at home mother of five children who range in ages 5-15.  I also have started a website recently about primary hyperhidrosis.  I hope it is not presumptuous of me, but I wanted to let you know that I suspect that at least some children– particularly adolescents– who present as anxious may actually be anxious due to hyperhidrosis.  As I’m sure you already know, hyperhidrosis often appears during puberty, which is most certainly a bewildering, upsetting, and embarrassing experience.

I write about hyperhidrosis because I have had it since early childhood.  I grew up with the slow realization that I was different from everyone else I knew.  As I grew older, the subliminal message that sweating is shameful and disgusting (thank you, advertising campaigns of the 1970′s) became ingrained in me and I regarded myself in that light.  By the time I was 13, I was anxious and desperate to make it stop.  I was also too utterly ashamed to tell a soul about it.  It never occurred to me that I had a disorder; I was simply convinced that I was a freak and as such, utterly worthless.  This, despite the fact that I was the adored youngest child of a large, close-knit family.

One night, after sweating uncontrollably throughout Urban Cowboy (who does that during a movie??), I had had enough and was caught by my older sister rifling through medicine cabinets, determined to commit suicide.  I tried to explain why I was so distraught; I finally spoke of my shame and the source of it.  They (my parents and adult older siblings) brushed it aside.  They determined, despite my protests, that I was suicidal due to some other family dynamics which had indeed created a tense atmosphere in our home.  Of course that was a factor in my anxiety, I do know and acknowledge that.  But I also know that I was an adolescent with nowhere to turn, dealing with an issue that was bigger than me.  I never spoke of my sweating again until I was in my early 30′s and heard the word “hyperhidrosis” quite by accident.

I am telling you this because I know that my experience is not unique.  I also know that for reasons I cannot understand, the fields of psychiatry/psychology seem to be rather oblivious to the severe damage hyperhidrosis wreaks on the self-esteem of people who are like me.  Perhaps the reason is that “we” are so ashamed that we suffer in isolation and fail to explain the source and depth of our pain.  It is not “just sweating”. It is the pain of being different, of not being in control, the fear of discovery through the senses of touch, sight, and smell.  It is every day.

People who don’t suffer from this really, truly, don’t “get it”.  Sadly, many therapists could ease this pain and are utterly uninformed and thereby make it worse.  I had a wonderful therapist (an LCSW) whom I admire in every other respect, but who told me that it was all in my head; that I could completely control it with meditation and therapy.  I now know how wrong he was, and I wasted a lot of time and energy on something that was not helpful.

How many pediatricians are missing this diagnosis?  Hyperhidrosis has no definitive cure, but a referral to a dermatologist for medical treatment and a referral to an informed psychologist could make a world of difference to a child who is drowning in shame.

I have carved out a wonderful life, but I wonder what my life would have been like if I had not been convinced I was a freak for 33 years of it….”

I should have added that my family did try to help me through that rough period by sending me to a psychologist.  If that psychologist knew that what I had was a medical disorder and had diagnosed me with hyperhidrosis, it would have saved me from a great deal of pain and self-loathing.  Sad to say, I believe very little has changed since the early ’80′s in that regard.  The same oversights are likely still occurring all over the world.

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