Psychological development and sickle cell disease: The impact of illness in the exercise of leading activities

Abstract

Sickle cell disease is a chronic blood disease that leads to numerous and serious implications to the life of its bearers, expressed as physical symptoms, like sickle cell crisis, pulmonary hypertension, acute thoracic syndrome, kidney disease and silent cerebral infarcts, or other limitations, like cognitive deficit. This study investigates the consequences of this disease in the exercise of leading activities of its sufferers, according to their reports. We conducted semi structured interviews, using the life history method for data collection, and the identification of nuclei of meanings for its analysis. We utilized the category activity, from the Social-historical psychology, to subsidize the process this data interpretation. The results evinced the major influence of illness on the subjects' everyday life, manifested mainly in the form of frequent and serious ruptures of the routine, that profoundly affect the possibility of engagement in activities necessary for their human-generic development-specially in ludic, study and work activities.