Health & Wellness Newsletter – March 2025

This Month: Mental Health

Last month, I had a nightmare of an air travel experience with my 7-year-old son. A couple days later, I read that most of the major airlines were suing to retract recently enacted disability protections, only to then read about new attacks on disability rights. All of this was happening as my 3-year-old daughter was dealing with recurrent ear infections, my family was passing around this year’s particularly-awful strain of influenza, and the weather … well, it was nasty. Between all those stressors, the constant pull of work obligations and not having time for anything but survival, I started to feel like a black cloud was hovering over me.

I suspect most of you know the feeling. It’s impossible to make it through life with a disability without occasionally feeling like the world is peeing on your parade. Sometimes the issues pass quickly, sometimes they just keep coming. Getting out of your own mental doom loop usually means figuring out what’s at the root of your issues and then finding mechanisms to cope with stressors when they arise. We’ll look at both cause and coping in the next sections.

Getting at the Roots

Sometimes feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed passes when external factors ease up. That was the case with my recent stress salad. First, sickness subsided, giving me more time for work and workouts. Then the sun came out, making everyone feel better. Suddenly, it felt like I could breathe.

Other times, the causes are much deeper. Tim Gilmer, our editor emeritus, wrote a story about battling severe depression in the aftermath of his spinal cord injury. If you’re experiencing depression, or wonder if you are, Gilmer’s story is well worth the read. As is the late Richard Holicky’s article “Overcoming Depression,” which surveys both SCI psychologists and wheelchair users about what true depression is, what causes it and what people find helpful for treatment.

In that story, Lester Butt, a SCI psychologist at Craig Hospital, explained that traditional indicators of clinical depression often don’t apply very well to people with SCI. Instead, “I look for cognitive markers such as helplessness, hopelessness and worthlessness,” he said. Gilmer adds loneliness to the list.

Two pillars of a fulfilling life as a wheelchair user are community and purpose. Finding people you can connect with and who are dealing with similar challenges can help with both loneliness and hopelessness. Many wheelchair users find peer support groups, whether in person or virtual, to be an invaluable resource for improving mental and emotional health. As Lavoris McGhee, a United Spinal Association member from Arkansas, put it: “It’s easier to go through hard times when you’ve got people to talk to who can relate.”

Our “Connecting with Peers” guide offers a variety of peer support resources, and United Spinal has a robust peer support network through both its Chapter and affiliated Peer Support Group networks.

For others, adaptive sports, especially team sports, can offer the same community of like-minded peers. Adaptive athletes often refer to their respective sports as “support groups for people who don’t like support groups.”

Finding something (or things) that gives your life purpose can help you work past feelings of helplessness and worthlessness. Society often presents work as the one true path to finding purpose, but that devalues the experiences of many people with disabilities, writes Cassandra Brandt in “Self-Worth, Shame and Spinal Cord Injury.”

Writing, art, volunteering, education, advocacy and any number of other activities can create purpose in your life while giving you confidence and skills to handle new challenges. Fulfilling activities can also serve as coping mechanisms, which we’ll look at next. But first, let’s all take a deep breath.

Functional Fitness

Box Breathing for Wheelchair Users — Stress Relief Reset

Coping with Stressors

Even if you have a solid foundation — a strong support network and pursuits that give you purpose — wheelchair life can still serve up a thousand stressors. Medical issues pop up out of nowhere. Aging with a disability presents its own complications and uncertainties. Caregivers no show. Mobility equipment breaks. The list goes on. 

When you’re feeling like the world’s out to get you, one of the best ways to cope is to get out in the world. One of my favorite decompression methods is to go for a handcycle ride. If the weather’s too gross, I’ll ride on the trainer or put some headphones in and lift at the gym. Apart from physiological benefits, there’s copious research that exercise is a natural mood elevator. You don’t have to crush yourself though. Going for a roll on a trail or through your neighborhood will get you fresh air and your blood moving. Power wheelchair user Melissa Crisp Cooper writes about adaptive yoga’s power to connect you to your body and community.

Pretty much any recreational activity or hobby — from more extreme endeavors like mountain biking or surfing, to calmer activities like birding or fishing, and everything in between — can offer the same mood enhancement. The trick is finding what you like without spending a fortune. The Active Project by the Kelly Brush Foundation is a great resource for finding organizations that offer adaptive sports and recreational opportunities in your area. They also have a tool to help you find grants for equipment or other costs associated with these activities.

There are a variety of other stress-relief and coping mechanisms as well. Greg Moomjy recently wrote about how meditation helps him deal with “Disability Grief.” Other relaxation techniques like “Non-Sleep Deep Rest” or breathwork are inherently accessible and can be powerful tools for managing chronic stress or even depression. Many wheelchair users also find talk therapy, the traditional go-to treatment for depression, to be effective. Thanks to modern technology, online platforms like Better Help, Talkspace and others make finding and seeing a licensed therapist easier and more accessible than ever.

Remember that different coping mechanisms work better for different people. Finding your most effective ones may take time. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a crisis, please reach out immediately to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or by calling or texting 998. These services are free and confidential.

Nutrition Tip

When you are under stress, there are numerous nutritional strategies you can incorporate into your daily regime. Increasing intake of vitamin C and B vitamins, reducing caffeine and alcohol, increasing intake of probiotics, and taking vitamin D supplements can help combat the negative effects of stress.

— Joanne Smith, certified nutritionist,
from her article “Address the Stress“