Abstract—Painless and painful crises are common
phenomena in sickle cell crises. People with sickle cell
disorder(SCD) do experience both chronic and acute pain
throughout life. The painful crisis is unpleasant with wide
variation in intensity, quality, duration and persistence. It
accounts for over 60% of hospital admissions in any given year
of persons affected with SCD. Little attempt has been made to
survey gender differences in frequency and intensity of pain as
well as types of crises often experience by individuals suffering
SCD. Thus researches focusing on gender differences in SCD
crises are rare despite the fact that women often report lower
pain thresholds, higher pain ratings, and lower to learned for
pain. Men affected by SCD also experience low nitric oxide.
Psychologically, women experienced high level of anxiety over
pregnancy related crises. Thus, limited understanding and
awareness exists among mental health practitioners on the need
for genetic counseling and about the psychotherapeutic
management of painful crises in persons affected by SCD.
Hence, the need for this paper which attempt to examine the
differences in crises as well as proffer solutions for the genetic
and mental health implications of these disorders.
Index Terms—Counselling, genetics, psychotherapy, sickle
cell disorders.
O. O. Ilesanmi was with Redeemer’s University, RCCG Camp, Mowe,
Ogun State, Nigeria. She is now with the Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria (e-mail: ilesanmio@oauife.edu.ng,
toytundun@aol.com).
Cite: Oluwatoyin Olatundun Ilesanmi, "Gender Differences in SCD Crises: Implications for Genetic Counselling and Psychotherapy," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 215-220, 2014.