Did You Know

A spinal cord injury is difficult to bear, which is why many affected also suffer from mental illness.

Did you know… …how profoundly a spinal cord injury impacts life?

Be it a dive into shallow water, a bicycle fall, or a traffic accident – all such occurrences can result in a permanent spinal cord injury that leads to life in a wheelchair. However, no longer being able to walk is merely the tip of the iceberg. And that is bad enough. People who experience such trauma feel like the ground has been ripped out from under their feet. It shakes their very existence to the core. They are robbed of their autonomy and privacy.

The affected and their families ride an emotional rollercoaster shortly after the traumatic event. It includes denial, sadness, fear, frustration, and anger. During the acute phase, i.e. shortly after the accident, up to 30% of spinal cord injury patients exhibit depressive symptoms that require treatment, as well as plenty of human support.

However, serious illnesses that demand special treatment, such as anxiety disorders or depression, can arise in the longer term. Depression confines the majority of people suffering from spinal cord injuries to their beds. This has a broader impact: slower progress in rehabilitation or complications such as pressure ulcers and infections.

Some people never emerge from this deep hole. They simply cannot accept their fate. A Danish study indicates that the suicide rate among people suffering from a spinal cord injury is five times higher than among healthy people. A tragic statistic that illustrates how profoundly such an injury impacts a person’s life.