close

What are the most difficult psychological obstacles for SCI patients to overcome after injury? - Heather Taylor, PhD

What are the most difficult psychological obstacles for SCI patients to overcome after injury?

Heather Taylor, PhD

Psychologist/Director of Spinal Cord Injury and Disability Services, TIRR Memorial Hermann - Houston

Read Bio More Videos by Heather Taylor
Transcript
“The most difficult psychological obstacles for SCI patients really include depression. Basically pain and depression can really impact each other, so if you’re depressed and you’ve been depressed before your injury, it’s goin... Show More

“The most difficult psychological obstacles for SCI patients really include depression. Basically pain and depression can really impact each other, so if you’re depressed and you’ve been depressed before your injury, it’s going to make it even more challenging. It’s going to be more challenging to accept where you are, to have good self-esteem, to have a positive outlook, definitely those things. I think one of the big things that is really important is having a positive outlook, and how crazy is that right, “Here I’ve had a spinal cord injury, how can I be positive?” But we know that negativity, being overly negative, being overly depressed is going to make it harder on your body, harder on you. Many people with spinal cord injury are depressed, but not all of them. So we have some people with spinal cord injury who are very happy and we see those individuals doing much better in their rehab versus those who are depressed. So if we can identify and treat depression and make sure you’re getting the help for the depression that you need, then you’re likely to do much better throughout your rehab and functioning.”

Show Less
add

What are the most difficult psychological obstacles for SCI patients to overcome after injury?

Heather Taylor, PhD

Psychologist/Director of Spinal Cord Injury and Disability Services, TIRR Memorial Hermann - Houston

More Videos by Heather Taylor
Transcriptadd

“The most difficult psychological obstacles for SCI patients really include depression. Basically pain and depression can really impact each other, so if you’re depressed and you’ve been depressed before your injury, it’s going to make it even more challenging. It’s going to be more challenging to accept where you are, to have good self-esteem, to have a positive outlook, definitely those things. I think one of the big things that is really important is having a positive outlook, and how crazy is that right, “Here I’ve had a spinal cord injury, how can I be positive?” But we know that negativity, being overly negative, being overly depressed is going to make it harder on your body, harder on you. Many people with spinal cord injury are depressed, but not all of them. So we have some people with spinal cord injury who are very happy and we see those individuals doing much better in their rehab versus those who are depressed. So if we can identify and treat depression and make sure you’re getting the help for the depression that you need, then you’re likely to do much better throughout your rehab and functioning.”

What are the most difficult psychological obstacles for SCI patients to overcome after injury?
close