Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN) are eating disorders which generally develop in teenage girls and young women living in Western countries. Both are relatively uncommon, affecting 2-3 percent of women but are considered to be “the most dangerous of mental disorders” because of the “significant risks to physical health” and “impact on day-to-day functioning” (Walsh et al.2020, p. 3).

Whereas grief is defined as deep sorrow and distress over the loss of a loved one, mourning is the process of adapting to the loss and finding new meaning in life. Traumatic grief is grief that prevents or interferes with the mourning process, and in children, traumatic grief can interfere with their social, emotional, and cognitive development.

Leo Kanner, an American child psychiatrist, first used the term, “infantile autism” in 1943 to describe children who, he believed, were happiest alone, living in a shell and “oblivious” to everything around them. Since then, much research and effort has been undertaken to help the many children and families affected by autism.

Due to medical advances, more and more children survive childhood cancer but recent studies show that, even after successful treatment, there are enduring physical, educational, social and emotional costs.