Isolation During Pandemic Takes Mental-Health Toll on People with Disabilities
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DENVER - People with disabilities in Colorado are among those at greatest risk of suffering from depression or other mental-health conditions during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Candie Burnham, executive director of the advocacy group Atlantis Community, said people with disabilities can experience isolation even during the best of times, but as the health crisis has dragged on, the negative impacts are compounding.
She said at first, people thought, 'We can get through a few weeks.' But then it was a few months, and now an entire year.
"Over time, that feeling of optimism or hope, the light at the end of the tunnel, has just slowly started to fade," said Burnham. "It really starts to take a toll on you emotionally, mentally and physically."
Colorado has seen shortages of both qualified in-person providers and mental-health professionals.
Many people with disabilities don't have internet access or adaptive technologies to keep in touch with family and friends remotely. Due to a lack of flexible transit options, and because they are more at risk of complications or death if infected, many are staying home to avoid exposure.
Darla Stuart, executive director of the group Think+Change, said isolation has been especially challenging for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities - in part because communication barriers make telehealth therapy impractical.
They need face-to-face interactions where providers can see all of the ways people communicate.
"For some folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities, they just don't have anybody they can turn to," said Stuart. "So their mental-health crisis is kind of silent. Because maybe we see behaviors but they don't have the ability to say what's happening."
Burnham said the only real way for the disability community to begin to recover is to get the virus under control. She said she believes people with disabilities should be prioritized for vaccinations, not only because they're at greater physical risk, but also because of the damage caused by isolation.
"And so the sooner we can get those individuals vaccinated, so that they have some level of protection, the sooner they can start re-engaging - to a certain extent - with the rest of the community," said Burnham.
