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It extremely common for a person with a spinal cord injury
or a close family member to feel down or depressed, your
thoughts can easily turn to whether you or they are
clinically depressed or not.
however, whether you 'fit' the
depression diagnosis or not is unimportant. If you are feeling
so down that you need to do something about it, that is
enough. Usually, if you are suffering depression you may well
feel one or more of the following:
-
Exhaustion on waking
- Disrupted sleep, sometimes through upsetting dreams
- Early morning waking and difficulty getting back to sleep
- Doing less of what they used to enjoy
- Difficulty concentrating during the day
- Improved energy as the day goes on
- Anxious worrying and intrusive upsetting thoughts
- Becoming emotional or upset for no particular reason
- Shortness of temper, or irritability
Not all people have all of these, and some have
different signs, but if you are depressed, at least some of
these will probably ring true with you. Some of these
factors may be caused by your spinal cord injury alone ie
tiredness, doing less etc and will not be part of your
depression
The individual signs of
depression - the way you feel - are what are used in
diagnosing depression. So it's easy to see why there is so
much confusion, seeing as the signs are generally common
emotions and feelings.
Many people gain support from their friends and
family. This can be helpful, but
they often have their own interests at heart too and however
well meaning they aren't always the best people to seek advice
from. A qualified doctor or trained therapist or
health practitioner can formally diagnose you with clinical
depression. However, how they reach this diagnosis gives an
incredibly important insight into how to treat depression.
They will normally
listen in an unbiased and
uncritical way, and reflect back to you the way that you are
feeling and thinking. So
you get a chance for a new perspective. That may be enough in
itself for you to see
things more clearly. It may lead to you being able to work
things out for yourself too.
People who are depressed may be reluctant to get help for a
variety of reasons. Some people may not even realise that
they’re depressed. Others may feel that depression is a sign of
weakness and may not want to admit it out of fear or shame. Also
a number of people believe that they should be able to solve
their own problems; or they may think that nothing can change
how they feel because, for example, their spinal cord injury
isn’t going to improve. There are also many misconceptions
about what people with a spinal cord injury can and cannot do,
which may prevent people from seeking help and discovering the
possibilities. For example, many are surprised to learn that
people with SCI maintain their homes, hold jobs, do volunteer
work and continue favourite sports and hobbies too.
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