ID: low angle photo of pink and orange balloons with sad and happy faces.
It can be hard to understand something we cannot see. Psychosocial disability is often hidden beneath the surface, which means its impacts can be overlooked, minimised or misunderstood. For people living with mental health conditions that affect daily life, relationships, work or study, that lack of understanding can lead to stigma, discrimination and sometimes, a painful absence of compassion.
What is psychosocial disability?
Mental health conditions are, as the name indicates, health conditions. In Australia, they are treated by the healthcare system and supported by Medicare. Psychosocial disability exists when a person living with a mental health condition experiences functional difficulties or barriers directly related to the impacts of that condition.
Those impacts can show up in daily activities, social interactions, work, study and other parts of life. They don’t look the same for everyone. Some people may be able to work or study with support or clear boundaries, while others may go through periods where daily tasks, social connection or employment become very difficult – or even impossible – to manage, at least for a time.
Why is it often misunderstood?
One of the reasons psychosocial disability is so often misunderstood is that mental health conditions are not always visible. The disability impacts can be overlooked or misread. Someone might be labelled as lazy, difficult, messy, withdrawn or unwilling, when what’s really happening is that they are facing functional barriers connected to their mental health condition.
Comments like “be happy” or “run it off” don’t recognise how serious mental health conditions can be, or the very real disability impacts that can come with them. Those kinds of attitudes can add to stigma and make it harder for people to feel understood or supported.
Psychosocial disability and support needs
The numbers show just how many people may be missing out on support. Figures from 2022–23 estimate that, across Australia, 230,500 people with severe psychosocial disability and 263,100 people with moderate psychosocial disability were not accessing either NDIS or mainstream support. That works out to more than 68% of people with severe psychosocial disability and more than 84% of people with moderate psychosocial disability not receiving support.
Those are significant numbers, especially when we think about the broader mental health picture. In any given year, an estimated one in five people will experience a mental illness. Not everyone who experiences mental health concerns will also experience psychosocial disability, but it does remind us that these conditions are common and widespread.
Treatment, recovery and permanence
For some people, the cause of their psychosocial disability may be very treatable, and recovery from the functional impacts may be possible. For many others, mental health conditions can be chronic or episodic. This means they may flare up and then ease again with time or treatment. Relapses can happen, and treatments may need to be reviewed or adjusted along the way.
Recovery looks different for every person and every condition. It can depend on many things, including what recovery means to the person themselves. For some people, psychosocial disability may continue despite treatment. The NDIS calls this “permanence”. For others, treatment may resolve the functional impairments they experience because of their mental health condition.
Building skills to manage or overcome barriers can make a real difference, but it doesn’t always mean the underlying mental health condition has been “cured”. Many conditions are treatable but not curable, and depending on the person’s circumstances and goals, both mental health treatment and disability support may be needed.
Holding onto hope
Living with psychosocial disability can be incredibly difficult. It can affect things like housework, isolation, work, relationships, daily tasks, or even understanding what is happening. For some people, recovery is hard because they may not respond to traditional treatments, may be medication resistant, or may not be able to access treatment and therapies.
The good news is that support is available for both mental health conditions and the disability impacts that can come with them. In South Australia, Medicare may provide assistance, and the NDIS remains an option for people living with permanent psychosocial disability. Support phone lines, online chat options and walk-in support clinics are also available.
Progress in mental health is not always easy to see, and it is not always a straight line. Setbacks do not mean progress is not happening. When we understand psychosocial disability with compassion, accuracy and respect, we take an important step toward reducing stigma and helping people access the support they need.
Photo by Madison Oren on Unsplash
