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Cerebral Palsy vs Mental Health

"Mental health conditions can be very debilitating, there is much research out there about this subject. But I was surprised at how little there was on mental health within the physically disabled population. As a disabled person myself, I was surprised to find little substantial material on the subject or in any general discussion on social media."

Liz Whiteley discusses the issues of CP and mental wellbeing.
How are you at the moment? Let's talk it through.

Liz Whiteley discusses the issues of CP and mental wellbeing.
How are you at the moment? Let's talk it through.
Scope
Specialist Information Officer - Cerebral Palsy
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Specialist Information Officer - Cerebral Palsy
Want to tell us about your experience on the community? Talk to our chatbot and let us know.
Replies
It can get very complicated becuase my mental health support is fragmented, because celebral palsy is one place, my ptsd is another place, my autism is another place and all connected with mental welfare and wellbeing. There time mental health can’t support my ptsd as I am survivor and that another place completely differant away from the nhs,
Most likely when see neuro rehab is take the advice back on how mental welfare works and give it to mental health end up doing allot.
I just glad they finally figured me out.
I'm really glad you decided to join us on the community after our telephone conversation the other day.
Your comments about the state of mental health services when you have other conditions are true. For a large part of my life, my mental health issues were put down to my disability and left at that. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Medical professionals and society at large seem to really struggle to grasp that your mental health difficulties are not always as a direct result of a disability.
In terms of your recent diagnosis, you need to give yourself time to process the information and the things we discussed over the telephone. It is an opportunity for you to understand why things have always been the way they have for you and now, armed with a diagnosis, you can start to find ways to make life a little easier.
We are here to try to support you through that process.
Specialist Information Officer - Cerebral Palsy
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Really interesting post and very true. I think it is a perception that if you are disabled this therefore causes any mental health issues you may have. In my opinion, this once again reinforces the idea that we are a disabled person as a whole rather than a person, who like everyone faces the highs and lows of life. but has a disability. Though some of my mental health issues relate to my CP such as deep feelings of guilt and shame, it is by no means the only reason. I have been blessed to have found someone who understands this though it has taken a lot of work and a long time to start to unravel this and is an ongoing process. I hope that this makes sense, thank you.
Specialist Information Officer - Cerebral Palsy
Want to tell us about your experience on the community? Talk to our chatbot and let us know.
Specialist Information Officer - Cerebral Palsy
Want to tell us about your experience on the community? Talk to our chatbot and let us know.
I fell into the trap of confusion, dependent which pro talk to as autism professional or mental health professional. I was found in hospital by autism professional which pointed out the mistake. I lived this dual role which now retired but still medical volunteer, being both which make it challenging as already got the answer!
Perceptions can differ greatly the neurotypical understanding and the autism understanding just wired different neurologically and got very good social worker who teaching me the differences, but not always seen.
I struggle with the cp, that wider community assume that able to do everything for years, but for me to do something I have to adapt my environment for me to function like in the home. I asked today adult services today to speed up the OT assessment of the home I need urgently as agree with WestHam06, that accepting who you are, that burned out trying to be able bodied and rather go my own way and be happy with CP, which neither could be able bodied in the first place!
I want to tell my story if you have any suggestion I'm glad to hear it
Since I was a kid, I drop things because of the weakness in my left hand, and to be honest, still, it is terrifying when I do things that require the work of 2 hands properly. (compare to my childhood I can grab things much better). But I feel these kinds of feeling, become over generalized and affect other parts of my life which at the beginning of every new project I feel, I can't do it so dramatically which I skip or procrastinate it till the last moment (I have low self-esteem in practical stuff)
For 10 years I just haven't done any exercise for my condition, and I've started it for a couple of years but recently I figured out that a sense of failure is the biggest obstacle to my improvement
If you were in my shoes what would you do?
Everybody has some fear of failure I think. I know that I do.
I focus on the fact that what I'm doing, be that a job or exercise, is for me and the benefit of my family. It is not to prove anything to anybody.
Specialist Information Officer - Cerebral Palsy
Want to tell us about your experience on the community? Talk to our chatbot and let us know.
How are you? Welcome to the community and thank you for joining us. Thank you also for sharing part of your story with us. I can empathise with what you say with regards to feeling a sense of failure, for many years I felt this and didn't express it to anyone which had an impact. After some time I decided to try to address this through the support of professional help which was really beneficial. Please may I ask, what do you think may help you in dealing with this sense of feeling? I know writing things down help some people or for others it may be through creative means, hope this makes sense. Thank you.