A psychological disability refers to a permanent and serious impairment of a person's social and economic participation due to symptoms of a psychological disorder.
Unlike other types of disability, psychological disabilities are not recognisable at first glance and are not always medically measurable. One speaks of a serious mental illness when thinking, feeling, perception and acting are altered over a longer period of time.
Mental disabilities usually manifest themselves in the following ways:
Disabilities caused by restricted mental functions due to the disease itself, e.g. due to cognitive disorders (deficits in attention and action planning, thought disorders, lack of insight into the disease) or negative symptoms. Other examples are problems with self-regulation, motivation, orientation and perception.
Disabilities resulting from the specific individual strategy for coping with a mental disorder. These include difficulties with self-care, communication with others regarding educational achievements or work requirements, and regarding moving safely in public.
Here are a few tips on how to deal with people with a mental disability:
Communicate clearly and without ambiguity.
Inform people about planned changes in good time. For people who benefit from a fixed daily schedule, try to introduce changes gradually.
With the consent of the person concerned, sensitise the other participants so that they can react appropriately to behavioural problems (e.g. anxiety disorder, aggressiveness).
Designate a fixed reference person
But what do I need to know about the different disabilities of my players when running an inclusive training session?
We answer these and more questions in our coach training.
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