Author Description

Paralyzed Veterans of America, in collaboration with the Consortium of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine, offers a new Clinical Practice Guideline for health care providers treating mental health disorders in adults with spinal cord injury and disease such as MS or ALS. The panel of authors includes national experts from the fields of nursing, physiatry, psychiatry, and psychology. Suicide, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance use are all significantly more prevalent in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) than in individuals without SCI. However, these mental health disorders are often not recognized and addressed as they should be, perhaps because of the other more obvious physical health impairments caused by SCI and the stigma that surrounds mental health disorders. Written with the non-mental health specialist in mind, these guidelines are important for every practitioner involved in treating those living with SCI. The CPG covers evidence-based screening and assessment tools, pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, and strategies all team members can use to support the recovery process across the lifespan of a patient.