The Blues: is it in the Disability Community, Too?

Often, the reality of our disabilities can lead to an increased instance of depression. Our physical scars may have heeled, but the physiological and sociological have not. Ninety-nine people out of one hundred and forty-four; according to a recent study linked their learning disabilities with depression and other depressive disorders. This is the result of a lack of flexibility in the education process. Students are often placed with those with emotional and behavior problems. Teachers are therefore, unable to give the time needed to each individual student because they must serve as baby-sitters to those who do not wish to participate in the learning process.
Yet, within each of us their remains a strong desire to discover “the secret.” This means, that, most people given patience, tolerance, and a relaxed environment can learn and succeed. This success will reinforce the positive aspects of each person’s life. Every achievement from traveling the world wide, to putting on a dinner is note worthy and valuable. The memory of past achievements can sometimes serve as a reminder in the depth of suffering that this current sadness will not last.
Many students can look back and remember that one parent, teacher, or friend who took the time to find it within themselves, to figure out just what that person needed to thrive, survive, and to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Often, just as much as the chemical imbalance, feelings of depression, and low self-esteem, come from a sense that a person is entirely alone. The awareness, that in fact, everyone wants an individual to in fact, succeed, can be very liberating. There is an old saying which demonstrates this idea. “Only if you have been in the deepest pit of sorrow, loss, and despair, can you ever know how magnificent it is to climb to the to of the highest mountain.”