11 September 2014 Survey of 1,500 parents of disabled children by disability charity Scope reveals that: • Nearly half (47%) of parents of disabled children have been to see their GP due to stress and worry • Two thirds (69%) of parents with disabled children have had problems accessing local services for their children over the past year • Nearly nine in ten (86%) find it hard to talk about how they are feeling • Disability charity Scope launches online community for disabled people and their families The findings of a new survey of over 1,500 parents with disabled children paint a stark picture of how a lack of available support is taking its toll emotionally: two thirds (69%) of parents with disabled children have had problems accessing the local services for their children over the past year, with eight in ten parents admitting to feeling frustrated (80%), stressed (78%) or exhausted (70%) as a result. The survey from the disability charity Scope also found that nine in ten (90%) parents are concerned about cuts to local services that they or their family needs. Shockingly, nearly half (47%) of parents of disabled children have been to see their GP due to stress, with 62% then being prescribed medication, including antidepressants (57%). Nearly nine in ten (86%) parents admitted that they find it hard to talk about how they are feeling and ‘bottle up’ difficult emotions, partly because they feel guilty or worried (42%), or because they worry people will judge them (34%). Parents responding to the survey admitted that they often feel isolated as a parent of a disabled child - nine in ten (92%) said they feel that parents who don’t have disabled children are unaware of the challenges they face. Two thirds (67%) of parents felt that emotional support for parents, such as support groups or counselling services, should be more widely available, and three in five (60%) parents said that talking to other parents with disabled children was an important source of support.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 10:31:12 +0000
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