Your central hub for information, support tools, and practical advice.

We have a wealth of knowledge to share with you about living with a spinal cord injury (SCI), and have pulled this together in this section to help you access the information you need, when you need it.

Peer Support Education Series: Bladder and Bowel Care with Coloplast

This online education session is in collaboration with Coloplast to give you the skills and confidence to manage common continence...

Employment, Disability and Changing a Culture of Discrimination

Susan talks to Phat Ngo and Dominika Jachym about disability and employment.

Peer Support Education Series: Sexuality, Intimacy and SCI

Our ACT Community Peer Support team will be running the next education session on sexuality and intimacy post-SCI.

PASA Research

Rachel Wotton is a Sex Worker and PhD Candidate for Western Sydney University. She is seeking people with disabilities to...

Have The Nerve – YouTube Playlist

If you aren't able to access our podcast, Have The Nerve, on a streaming service, access our podcast on our...

Why is standing so important for people who can’t move their legs?

Physiotherapist Colbey Van Leeuwen and Exercise Physiologist Alicia Payne talk about the importance of standing in therapy

Anxiety is an emotion characterised by feelings of worry or distress. Similar to depression, it’s a typical human emotion, but it may be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder when excessive or persisting beyond developmentally appropriate periods.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorder type, affecting 1 in 6 (17%, or 3.3 million) Australians. Meanwhile, a new study shows adults with spinal cord injuries have a near-80% increased risk of developing psychological conditions, such as depression and anxiety, compared with individuals without the injuries. That’s why we need to pay more attention to our mental health.

The causes of anxiety disorders

Researchers don’t exactly know what brings on anxiety disorders. It may be a complicated mix of mental and physical conditions.

Some of the medical causes linked to anxiety include:

Chronic pain or irritable bowel syndrome
Heart disease
Diabetes
Respiratory disorders
Drug misuse or withdrawal
Withdrawal from alcohol, anti-anxiety medications (benzodiazepines) or other medications
and more

The symptoms of anxiety

People with this condition experience many mental and physical symptoms, including:

worrying
obsessive thinking
catastrophising
panic attacks
hot and cold flushes
racing heart
tightening of the chest
quick breathing or shortness of breath
difficulty sleeping
headaches

What works for anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are treatable. There are many treatments to reduce and manage the symptoms of anxiety. The main treatments are psychotherapy and medicines.

If you want to learn more about what works for anxiety, depression and other mental conditions, please access Beyond Blue. This well-known mental health organisation offers many resources to help people live happy and healthy lives.

The NDIS and Mental Health

The NDIS may fund non-clinical mental health supports related to your ongoing psychosocial disability and functional ability. Nevertheless, there is a lot of confusion around the NDIS funds. If you are confused, our NDIS Support Coordination team will always be pleased to help you. Our Peer Support team will also be happy to offer their collective expertise to assist you.

The post was written based on the materials from Wikipedia, IHPI and WebMD.