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Reply To: | St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List |
Date: | Wed, 10 Nov 1999 16:09:56 -0700 |
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Re: Depression and disability
Hello everyone.
I have been reading the recent posts with great interest. Hope it’s not too late
for me to
add my 2 cents. A while back there was a thread regarding adults with CP and
parents of
children with CP. I wanted to jump in but was too chicken. Maybe I can tie the
two
together.
Are any of you familiar with the grieving progress? As I understand it when we
experience loss we go through a grieving process. The stages are Denial &
Isolation,
Anger, Bargaining, Depression and finally Acceptance. When a child is disabled,
the
parent goes through the grieving process. Later the PWD will go through the
process,
probably several times at various ages. It is possible for a person be get stuck
for years or
for a lifetime in any one of the stages.
As an advocate for the disabled and as a special ed. paraprofessional I have come
across
PWDs and parents in all stages. And it’s not a one time deal, we cycle through
again and
again. It can be briefly. You catch a glimpse of your reflection and think “that
can’t be
me”. A major change or loss can send you through the cycle again Big Time. It
can take
months or even years.
This group has made me realize how very fortunate I have been. I grew up in a
loving
and accepting family. My parents and grandparents did some remarkable things for
me
when I was little. I’ll save that for another time.
I had a bout with depression when I hit fifty-something and noticed a decided
physical
change. Was getting slower, stiffer and feeling worn out. I was convinced it was
somehow related to aging CP but I could find little or no information. On the
bright side,
I found this group.
Toddy
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