A Study to Investigate the Mental Health Condition and Self-Concept of Physically Disabled Person Compared to Physically Abled (Healthy) Person

Background: Disability is one of the hardest effects in the whole planet, because they seriously don’t understand why each person else is “normal” in which they aren’t.  Disability is the consequence of an impairment that may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or some combination of these. A disability may be present from birth, or occur during a person’s lifetime (WHO, 2012). Physically handicapped children are passive, less persistent having shorter attention span, engage them in less exploration and display less motivation. They are more dependent on adults, and interact less with peers.  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. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the mental health condition of physically disabled person compared to physically abled (healthy) person. Method: The sample of the study included from different districts of Bihar, of age range between 13-25 years, who has moderate physical disability. The sample size comprised of 100 (N=100) adult from Bihar; 50 were physically disabled (n₁=50) and 50 were their physically abled (n₂=50) counterparts. The following tools were used for this study: Mental Health Inventory, Self-concept Clarity Scale. Results: Physically disabled sample scored significantly higher on environmental mastery (t= 2.930, p≤ 0.05), and physically abled sample scored higher on Autonomy (t= -2-259, p≤ 0.05) of the Mental Health Inventory. Physically disabled and physically abled sample have scored almost same on self-concept clarity scale Questionnaire. Conclusion: It was found that physically disabled persons showed higher score on environmental mastery and autonomy. This particular study may have significant implication for parents, teachers, mental health professionals and policy makers.