The Mental Health of People with Disabilities

Disabled people are more likely to experience a lot, or a great deal, of worry than those who are not disabled. People with disabilities (e.g. physical impairments such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury etc) are just as likely as the general population to experience mental health problems. They may be even more likely than the general population to need and use mental health services. Possible reasons for this may include – higher rates of poverty and unemployed amongst disabled people which are themselves associated with poor mental health; the greater risks of abuse experienced by disabled children and adults; and, some people with mental health support needs may be more likely to become physically disabled as a result of accidents or attempted suicide. There is also increasing acknowledgement that long-term mental health problems are correlated with conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. People with disabilities appear to be at greater risk of mental health problems than the general population and therefore make a disproportionate contribution to mental health morbidity internationally. The personal and social costs of mental disorders are considerable throughout the world. The mental health of populations has been recognized as an international priority (World Health Organisation 2005). An important part of addressing this will be attending to the needs of people with disabilities who are a disproportionately disadvantaged group. In the following sections we briefly examine what is currently known about the association between disability and mental health. It is suggested that people with physical impairments and mental health support needs tend to be overlooked by policy-makers and commissioners of services. Many people with disabilities report having difficulty accessing mental health services because of their physical impairments. Many also have difficulty accessing physical disability services because of the inadequate recognition of mental health needs with disability related services.