Elimination Disorder deals with the involuntary or intentional passing of faeces and urine by a child in inappropriate places.
It can be divided into 2 types:
- Enuresis– It is the repeated voiding of urine in bed or in clothes. A child should be of at-least 5 years of age and the frequency of this activity should be a minimum twice a week for a minimal period of 3 months to be classified under this type of disorder.
It may have following consequences:
- Social awkwardness
- Low self-esteem
- Decreased confidence
- Awkwardness in school
- Encopresis– It is the repeated passage of faeces in inappropriate places like clothes, furniture, floor and bed.
The child should be of 4 years of age and such events should occur at-least once a month for a minimum period of 3 months for a child to be diagnosed with Encopresis.
The consequences are same as in Enuresis.
CASE STUDIES
Enuresis
R, age 7 is brought to the clinic by her father. R looks visibly embarrassed and worried, while waiting with his dad. His father states that he passes urine in his bed while sleeping; alarmingly this situation has carried on since the past 2 years. Things got worse, when R started urinating in his pants, while he was in school. As a result he has now become reluctant in going to school as other kids make fun of him. R is diagnosed with Enuresis, which has significantly lowered his confidence and further he has started avoiding social outings.
Encopresis
S, age 6 was brought to the clinic by his father. His problem is passing of fetes in his pants; he doesn’t have the control to wait till he gets to the bathroom. The frequency of such instances have increases severely in the past 3 months where he passed fetes in his bed, in school while attending classes and also while playing. This has made S extremely anxious and he has developed anxiety problems. He has no prior medical history and is diagnosed with enocpresis and anxiety.
