Whether it is through an ill-informed media, half-truths, apathy, old fashioned prejudice, out-dated knowledge or simple ignorance, society has always made assumptions about paralysis and wheelchair users.
Such mythical stigma and stereotyping are at the very least unhelpful and at their worse dangerous, fueling prejudice and isolation. While we have highlighted 10 myths about spinal cord injury (SCI) below, the most important fact to remember is that everyone is different and every SCI is different.
Dianne Yates at Birchall Blackburn Law heads up the Serious and Catastrophic Injury team.
She said: “An SCI is complicated and unique to each individual. There are so many factors at play – the extent of the injury, the quality of rehabilitation, the financial situation, the personality, lifestyle, family, friends – that to make general assumptions about SCI and putting people in a pigeonhole can be soul destroying for those building a new life.”
Here are the first five of 10 SCI myths that we commonly encounter at Birchall Blackburn Law:
#1 SCI Women cannot have children
In the vast majority of cases a woman’s ability to have children is unaffected by a SCI. About half of women will not miss a period. For some, the menstrual cycle will be disrupted for three to six months but usually there is no lasting effect on the woman’s chances of conceiving and having a healthy baby.
#2 SCI Men cannot have children
Following SCI, most men develop erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction, and semen abnormalities. However, advances in modern medical fertility treatment means that pregnancy outcomes using sperm from men with SCI are similar to pregnancy outcomes using sperm from non-SCI men, according to a US 2012 review article by Nancy L. Brackett, ‘Infertility in Men with Spinal Cord Injury: Research and Treatment’.
#3 Men and women with SCI do not have sex
The majority of people living with SCI are 15 to 45 years of age, so of course the vast majority of them are sexually active. It is important to their well being and rehabilitation. The amount of physical sexual function and ability to feel sensation after a SCI depends on the level of the spinal cord damage, but anyone with an SCI is encouraged to rediscover sex and to experiment in some way. With the help of counselling, sex aids, sexual techniques and drugs, sex can often be more adventurous, intimate and satisfying.
#4 Everyone with an SCI is depressed and unhappy
It can depend on many complicated factors but the figures reveal that the majority of people can and do live healthy, active and fulfilling lives with SCI. But, the impact of an SCI should not be underestimated. The suicide rate for SCI people is five times higher than the national average (‘Spinal cord injury—rehabilitation adds life to years’, DeVivo, 1991), and about 20% of people leave NHS spinal hospitals clinically depressed and 32% have clinical anxiety (‘Psychological adjustment to spinal cord injury: The contribution of coping, hope and cognitive appraisals’, Kennedy, 2009).
#5 SCI people can only race wheelchairs
Sport plays an important part in the life of many people with SCI and it is not just confined to a few elite wheelchair athletes in the London Marathon. According to Sport England, 1.57 million adults with a limiting disability or illness participate in a sport every week (2014/15) and the 2012 Paralympics did a lot to breakdown sporting stigma. There are opportunities across the UK to play tennis, rugby, basketball, powerlifting, fencing, ice sledge hockey, field athletics, powerchair football and many more. Sport is a vital element in a person’s rehabilitation, mental health, social life, lifestyle and confidence.
The post Ten spinal cord injury myths that society needs to banish – part one, the first five. appeared first on Spinal Injuries Association.